IDEALISM   IN    EDUCATION 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

K«W  VORK  •    BOSTON  •   CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  ft  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •   CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


IDEALISM  IN  EDUCATION 


OR 


FIRST  PRINCIPLES  IN  THE  MAKING  OF 
MEN  AND  WOMEN 


BY 

HERMAN  HARRELL  HORNE,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  PHILOSOPHY  AND   OF  THE  HISTORY 

OF  EDUCATION,   NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY;    AUTHOR  OF  "THE 

PHILOSOPHY  OF  EDUCATION  "  AND  "  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL 

PRINCIPLES  OF  EDUCATION" 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


ConrwcHT,  1910, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Setupmndelectrotyped.    Publuhed  November,  «9x, 


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J.  8.  Owhlng  Co.-B«^rlck  A  Smith  Co. 
Horwood,  I£M^  U.8^. 


TO 
B.  W.  H. 


224443 


PREFACE 

IDEALISM  finds  ideas  and  purposes  to  be  the  reali- 
ties of  existence ;  and  personality,  which  is  the  union 
of  ideas  and  purposes,  to  be  the  ultimate  reality. 
These  views  are  in  contrast  with  all  forms  of  mate- 
rialism which  would  reduce  ideas  and  purposes  to 
some  form  of  physical  existence. 

Educating  is  the  purposeful  providing  of  an  envi- 
ronment ;  at  bottom  it  is  personality  in  and  behind 
the  environment  that  counts  most;  so  educating  is 
really  a  relation  between  personalities  of  different 
degrees  of  maturity. 

If  these  views  are  correct,  it  is  evident  that  idealism 
is  the  true  philosophy  in  educating.  The  relation 
between  teachers  and  pupils,  being  personal  and  recip- 
rocal, is  something  more  than  materialism  can  either 
allow  or  explain,  than  the  commercialism  of  trade 
can  understand,  than  any  form  of  egoism  can  attain. 
It  is  instructive  for  us  in  an  age  of  material  progress 
and  salary  questions  to  remember  that  Thoreau  wrote 
down  in  "  Walden  "  :  "I  have  thoroughly  tried  school- 
keeping,  and  found  that  my  expenses  were  in  pro- 
portion, or  rather  out  of  proportion,  to  my  income, 
for  I  was  obliged  to  dress  and  train,  not  to  say  think 
and  believe,  accordingly,  and  I  lost  my  time  into  the 
bargain.  As  I  did  not  teach  for  the  good  of  my 

vii 


via  Preface 

fellow-men,  but  simply  for  a  livelihood,  this  was  a 
failure." 

In  the  pages  of  this  book,  idealism  in  educating 
is  pictured  as  combining  both  science  and  philosophy 
in  the  practical  aim  of  man-making.  In  the  first 
chapters,  on  a  scientific  basis,  we  have  ethical  idealism, 
in  which  men  and  women  as  unfolding  personalities 
are  viewed  as  the  worthiest  objects  of  human  en- 
deavor. In  the  last  chapter  we  have  philosophical 
idealism,  in  which  human  personalities  are  viewed 
as  the  indistinct  but  developing  images  of  the  Divine 
Personality. 

Two  persons  who  have  lately  left  us  rich  educa- 
tional legacies  in  their  writings  have  stated,  the  one, 
on  a  scientific  basis,  our  practical  aim,  the  other,  on 
a  philosophical  basis,  our  idealistic  interpretation. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  "System  of  Synthetic 
Philosophy,"  Herbert  Spencer,  the  agnostic  altruist, 
wrote :  "  Hereafter,  the  highest  ambition  of  the  be- 
neficent will  be  to  have  a  share  —  even  though  an 
utterly  inappreciable  and  unknown  share  —  in  the 
'  Making  of  Man/  Experience  occasionally  shows 
that  there  may  arise  extreme  interest  in  pursuing 
entirely  unselfish  ends;  and  as  time  goes  on,  there 
will  be  more  and  more  of  those  whose  unselfish  end 
will  be  the  further  evolution  of  Humanity.  While 
contemplating  from  the  heights  of  thought  that  far- 
off  life  of  the  race  never  to  be  enjoyed  by  them,  but 
only  by  a  remote  posterity,  they  will  feel  a  calm 
pleasure  in  the  consciousness  of  having  aided  the 
advance  towards  it." 

America  has  recently  lost  an  idealist  in  education. 


Preface 


IX 


Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  died  November  5,  1909.  Toward 
the  conclusion  of  his  "  Psychologic  Foundations  of 
Education"  (p.  38.3),  he  wrote:  "According  to  the 
current  evolutionary  view,  all  nature  is  a  struggle  for 
survival  of  forms.  Of  the  organic  forms,  the  plant 
serves  the  animal  and  yields  to  him.  The  animal 
in  turn  yields  to  man.  Man,  in  fact,  conquers  all 
nature.  Here  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
comes  to  mean  the  survival  of  individuals  that  have 
most  intelligence.  All  nature,  it  would  seem,  is  a 
process  for  originating  individuality  and  developing 
it  into  rational  being.  Looked  at  theologically,  this 
is  satisfactory.  Nature  is  the  creation  of  souls.  It 
implies,  of  course,  the  supremacy  of  mind,  since  all 
its  lower  processes  exist  for  the  production  of  spirit- 
ual beings  —  they  depend  on  mind,  so  to  speak,  and 
demonstrate  the  substantiality  of  mind.  Mind  is  the 
final  cause  and  purpose  of  nature.  This  again  im- 
plies that  mind  creates  nature  to  reflect  it.  God 
creates  nature,  and  through  nature  creates  spiritual 
beings  who  participate  in  his  blessedness.  Hence 
nature  presupposes  a  God  of  grace  and  good  will 
toward  his  creatures. " 

In  the  spirit  of  these  quotations  from  two  great 
but  very  different  educators,  this  book  is  written. 
It  would  combine  the  practical  aim  of  Spencer  to 
assist  in  the  evolution  of  humanity  with  the  ideal- 
istic philosophy  of  Harris.  The  aim  of  Spencer  is 
new,  it  being  characteristic  only  of  the  biological 
nineteenth  century,  and  after,  to  assign  man's  "Golden 
Age  "  to  the  future ;  the  philosophy  of  Harris  is  in 
line  with  the  traditions  of  Hegel  and  Plato. 


x  Preface 

/  The  forces  that  make  men  and  women  I  find  to  be 
heredity,  environment,  and  will.  Education  is  not 
a  fourth  elemental  force,  but  it  does  its  work  in 
cooperation  with  these  three.  Education,  through 
public  opinion,  influences,  and  may  come  to  control, 
the  force  of  heredity;  it  is  itself  a  part  of  the  physi- 
cal and  social  environment ;  it  assists  in  the  for- 
mation of  will.  By  consciously  directing,  through 
education  and  otherwise,  these  forces,  we  shall  in 
time  have  the  true  superman  of  our  modern  dreams, 
as  well  as  the  ideal  people  of  Plato's  Republic. 
But,  unlike  Plato  and  Shaw,  we  shall  have  to  work 
through,  not  without,  the  family  as  an  institu- 
tion. 

Since  Sir  Francis  Galton  a  generation  ago  began 
to  work  on  this  question,  the  art  of  securing  good 
heredity  has  come  to  be  known  as  eugenics.  For 
"good  environments"  J.  A.  Thomson  uses  the  term 
"eutopia";  not  the  Utopia  (no-where)  of  Sir  Thomas 
More,  but  the  "good-where."  To  complete  the  trio, 
for  the  "  good  will "  I  have  ventured  to  use  "eunoia," 
a  classical  and  also  New  Testament  Greek  word 
(Plat  "  Gorg.M  486  A  ;  Eph.  6:7,  et  al.\  whose  root 
reminds  us  of  Anaxagoras  and  his  ordering  principle, 
jx>fc,  and  also  appears  in  certain  English  derivatives, 
as  noetic,  noology,  etc.  The  term  "eunoia"  suggests 
feeling  and  acting  in  accord  with  knowledge,  and 
thus  continues  the  traditions  of  Socratic  intellectual- 
/  ism.  We  can  agree  with  the  Greeks  that  there  is  no 
virtue  without  knowledge,  though  we  have  to  add 
there  may  be  knowledge  without  virtue.  But  in  the 
latter  case  the  eunoia  has  not  been  formed.  These 


Preface 


XI 


three  "  eu's  "  together  constitute  the  empirical  first 
principles  in  the  making  of  men  and  women. 

The  third  element,  that  of  will,  is  the  one  least 
regarded  in  such  discussions  as  this  tries  to  be,  as  so 
much  of  our  science  manages  its  explanations  only 
in  physical  terms.  For  this  reason  I  have  paid 
especial  attention  to  it,  representing  as  it  does  the 
really  indispensable  element  of  individuality  in  man- 
making.  Though  I  have  rarely  been  able  to  discuss 
the  matter  of  will  with  teachers  and  students  without 
having  questions  concerning  "  free-will "  naturally 
arise,  it  seemed  after  much  reflection  best  on  the 
whole  to  reserve  the  treatment  of  this  large  problem 
till  another  occasion.  Our  argument  indeed  implies 
human  freedom,  but  its  adequate  discussion  would 
have  taken  us  too  far  afield  from  the  main  line  of 
thought.  This  I  discovered  after  having  written  on 
this  problem  as  briefly  as  possible. 

Really  it  requires  a  biologist,  such  as  I  am  not, 
as  well  as  a  psychologist  and  philosopher,  such  as  I 
try  to  be,  to  discuss  these  topics  in  an  ultimate  way. 
But  I  have  sat  gratefully  at  the  feet  of  the  biologists 
and  have  sought  to  secure  the  larger  doctrines  at  least 
that  they  teach  concerning  the  life-problem.  For  a 
review  and  criticism  of  the  somewhat  technical  pages 
1 6- 1 8,  on  heredity,  I  am  indebted  to  Professor  W.  E. 
Castle,  of  Harvard. 

That  the  conclusions  of  this  book  go  beyond  the 
forces  of  heredity  and  environment  into  the  region 
of  individual  will  in  the  explanation  of  men  and 
women  is  to  be  credited  rather  to  the  philosophy 
of  life  that  I  hold  than  to  the  science  I  have  learned. 


xii  Preface 

"  Freedom  is  the  truth  of  necessity,"  said  Hegel ; 
"mechanism  is  universal  but  secondary  to  teleology," 
said  Lotze;  and  in  philosophy  I  find  the  freedom 
and  the  purpose  of  the  existence  whose  necessity  and 
mechanism  science  lays  bare.  We  need  to-day  a 
popular  philosophy  that  shows  how  the  mechanism 
of  science  is  itself  a  product  of  the  free  inquiring 
spirit  of  man.  To  me  it  is  a  sad  spectacle  to  see 
keenly  intelligent  men  throwing  themselves  as  a  mass 
of  mere  matter  before  the  Juggernaut  of  scientific 
necessity  which  they  themselves  have  constructed. 

The  following  pages  are  not  such  a  popular  phi- 
losophy ;  perhaps  they  can  claim,  however,  to  be  an 
application  of  such  a  philosophy.  Please  let  no 
expert  in  these  subjects  of  heredity,  environment, 
will,  mechanism,  and  teleology  suppose  that  I  have 
contemplated  an  addition  to  our  human  knowledge 
in  these  pages.  My  more  modest  and  less  conspicu- 
ous purpose  has  been  to  help  make  available  for 
those  who  love  children  and  the  race  what  the  experts 
already  know. 

But  there  is  one  thing  I  have  had  in  mind.  Our 
educational  procedure  in  America  has  been  what  the 
philosopher  Kant  would  call  "  dogmatic,1'  that  is,  we 
have  gone  on  somewhat  blindly  believing  in  educa- 
tion and  in  its  ability  to  make  men  and  women,  as 
Kant  himself  indeed  did,  without  once  thoroughly  rais- 
ing the  question  whether  and  to  what  extent  educa- 
tion could  make  a  man.  There  are  many  signs 
today  that  "A  Critique  of  Education"  would  be 
welcome.  Its  problem  would  be  to  mark  out  the 
limits  of  education.  The  following  pages  by  making 


Preface  xiii 

us  aware  of  such  limits  may  at  least  serve,  I  trust, 
as  prolegomena  to  such  an  educational  criticism. 

Concerning  the  origin  of  the  work,  "  Please  come 
and  tell  us  some  of  the  things  we  all  believe  and 
work  for  without  having  the  time  to  formulate  or 
even  think  about,"  is  the  message  between  the  lines 
that  I  have  read  in  many  invitations  to  address  gath- 
erings of  teachers,  high-school  commencement  audi- 
ences, women's  clubs,  church  conferences,  and  similar 
bodies.  Upon  many  such  occasions  in  different 
places,  I  have  spoken  in  a  free  and  informal  way 
upon  "The  Making  of  Men  and  Women."  Each 
time  my  auditors  have  encouraged  me  to  return  to 
the  theme  with  greater  zest,  and  each  return  has 
emphasized  in  my  own  mind  the  greatness,  the  time- 
liness, and  the  endlessness  of  this  topic.  In  more 
systematic  form  the  material  has  been  presented  in 
the  classroom  to  my  former  Dartmouth  students; 
also  at  the  summer  session  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia, 1909;  also,  during  the  past  winter,  in  the 
Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  as  one  of 
the  extra-mural  courses  of  New  York  University. 
Should  this  volume  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  reader 
who  finds  it  in  places  already  familiar,  I  hope  it  will 
remind  him  pleasantly  of  the  time  we  discussed  these 
matters  of  our  common  interest  face  to  face.  And 
should  students  of  my  "Philosophy  of  Education" 
find  only  an  expansion  here  of  certain  views  there 
briefly  expressed  on  pages  252-254,  they  would  be 
correct  in  considering  this  but  the  "  sequel "  to  that, 
and  they  would  be  following  the  line  of  development 
my  own  thought  has  taken  in  the  past  few  years. 


xiv  Preface 

It  is  always  hazardous  to  anticipate  what  place  a 
book  may  make  for  itself.  Our  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, normal  schools  and  teachers'  reading  circles, 
are  studying  what  has  come  to  be  called  "  the  princi- 
ples of  education."  Several  excellent  recent  texts  on 
this  general  subject  have  appeared ;  some  of  these 
texts,  however,  purposely  omit  any  account  of  the 
philosophical  foundations  of  school  work.  There  is 
an  almost  universal  need  for  clear  views,  if  they  may 
be  had,  on  the  first  principles,  practical  and  theoretical, 
in  the  science  and  in  the  philosophy  of  educating  and 
man-making.  This  book  tries  to  supply  this  need  ;  it 
could  be  used  in  the  courses  above  indicated  either  as  i 
a  main,  or  as  a  supplementary,  text  And  if  all  those 
parents,  teachers,  and  social  workers  who  have  the 
will  to  help  the  present  generation  and  the  future 
race  should  find  here  some  light,  guidance,  and  in- 
spiration, it  would  be  very  gratifying  to  the  author. 

For  the  busy  person  who  reads  prefaces  and  dips 
into  pages  here  and  there,  the  scope  of  this  discus- 
sion will  be  evident  from  a  glance  at  the  Table  of 
Contents.     First,  we  must  try  to  state  the  problem  I 
of  education   in   man-making  (Chap.  I).     Then  we 
must  treat  of  education  in  its  relation  to  each  of  the 
elements  of  man-making ;  viz.,  heredity,  environment, 
and  will  (Chaps.  II,  III,  IV).    Finally,  having  reached  j 
the  limits  of  our  knowledge,  we  can  exercise  the 
human  privilege  of  following  our  thoughts  into  the  ^ 
speculative  region   beyond   knowledge   and   inquire  , 
what   the    philosophy   of   these   processes   of   man- 
making  may  be  (Chap.  V). 

As  I  write  these  final  words,  the  earth's  atmosphere, 


Preface  xv 

laden  with  the  smoke  and  dust  of  the  day's  work, 
catches  in  splendor  the  rays  of  the  summer  sun  de- 
clining toward  the  west;  so  do  even  the  tokens  of 
toil  add  new  glories  to  the  evening  of  rest. 

LEONIA,  NEW  JERSEY, 
June  30,  1910. 


ANALYTIC  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  PROBLEM  OF  EDUCATION  IN  MAN-MAKING 

PAGE 

1 .  Man-making  the  Occupation  of  the  Ages  i 

2.  Mind  in  our  Universe 2 

3.  From  Unconscious  to  Conscious  Evolution    ...  3 

4.  Man's  Dream  of  Self-improvement         ....  3 

5.  Knowledge  and  Use  of  Life  Forces  Demanded       .        .  5 

6.  The  Forces  of  Man-making 5 

7.  Statement  of  our  Problem 6 

8.  The  Greatness  of  this  Problem 8 

CHAPTER  II 
HEREDITY  AND  EDUCATION 

i.   The  Fundamental  Place  of  Heredity  in  Life  10 

(1)  The  Witness  of  Biology 10 

(2)  Illustrations  of  Heredity    .         .         .         .         .11 

(3)  Inheritance  of  Criminality          ....  13 

(4)  Heredity  in  Literature 14 

The  Nature  of  Heredity 15 

(1)  The  Two  Meanings  of  the  Term       ...  15 

(2)  The  Nature  of  Physical  Heredity       .         .  15 

(3)  The  Law  of  Heredity 16 

(4)  Its  Application  to  the  Physique          .  .16 

(5)  The  Work  of  Mendel 17 

(6)  The  Law  of  Sir  Francis  Galton  18 

(7)  Application  of  the  Law  of  Heredity  to  Mind      .  19 

xvii 


xviii         Analytic  Table  of  Contents 

PAGE 

(8)  Inheritance  of  Mental  and  Moral  Traits     .        .  20 

(9)  Reversion  to  the  Normal 22 

(10)  Inbreeding 22 

(u)  Gradual  Appearance  of  Heredity        ...  23 

3.  The  Inheritance  of  Acquired  Characters         ...  24 

(1)  The  Nature  of  Acquired  Characters  ...  24 

(2)  Are  they  Inherited  ? 24 

(3)  The  Affirmative 25 

(4)  The  Negative Vj 

(5)  Conclusion 29 

4.  Capacity  as  an  Inheritance 30 

(1)  What  we  Inherit 30 

(2)  Capacity 30 

(3)  The  Capacity  is  General 31 

We  inherit  Capacity,  not  Character   ...  32 

5.  The  Use  of  Heredity  in  making  Progress       ...  32 

1 i )  The  Possibility  of  Progress  in  Evolution   .         .  32 

(2)  Division  of  Responsibility          .         .        .         .  33 

(3)  Heredity  the  Truth  of  Predestination         .        .  33 

6.  The  Practical  Bearings  of  this  Discussion  35 

(1)  The  Relation  of  Education  to  Heredity     .         .  35 

(2)  The  Elementary  Way  to  improve  the  Race        .  35 

(3)  A  Duty  of  Parents  and  Teachers       ...  36 

(4)  Rational  Sexual  Selection         ....  38 

(5)  "Race  Suicide" 39 

(6)  Segregation  of  the  Unfit 41 

(7)  Develop  the  Strong  Points  of  Heredity      .         .  43 

(8)  Arouse  Dormant  Heredity         .                         •  44 

(9)  Study  the  Individual  Child        ....  45 
(10)  The  Theory  of  Recapitulation    ....  46 
(u)  Right  Immigration 47 

(12)  Marriage  Tests 48 

(13)  The  Rights  of  Women 48 

(14)  Outdoor  Life  for  Women           ....  50 

(15)  Prenatal  Influence 51 

(16)  Universal  Peace 52 


Analytic  Table  of  Contents  xix 

PAGE 

(17)  Is  Philanthropy  Misguided?  53 

(18)  The  First  Principle  of  Man-making  .         .  55 

The  Abuse  of  the  Law  of  Heredity        .         .        .  55 

CHAPTER  III 
ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION 

The  Nature  of  Environment 61 

(1)  Meaning  of  the  Term 61 

(2)  The  Kinds  of  Environment        ....  62 

The  General  Influence  of  Environment          ...  64 

(1)  The  Law  of  Environment          ....  64 

(2)  Modification  of  Organism  by  Environment        .  64 

(3)  Modification  of  Environment  by  the  Organism  .  65 

(4)  Resulting  Likeness  between  Organism  and  En- 

vironment        65 

(5)  Illustrations  of  Adaptation  to  Environment        .  66 

(6)  Explanation  of  the  Law  of  Adaptation       .         .  67 

(7)  The  Provision  of  Opportunity  by  Environment  67 

The  Influence  of  the  Physical  Environment  ...  68 

(1 )  The  Development  of  Latent  Heredity        .         .  68 

(2)  Atrophy  through  Disuse 68 

(3)  Selection,  not  Production 69 

(4)  The  Exertion  of  Pressure  .....  70 

(5)  The  Effects  of  Nutrition 70 

(6)  The  Explanation  of  Variation    .         .         .         .71 

(7)  Geography  and  Man 71 

The  Influence  of  the  Social  Environment  73 

(1)  Contrast  with  the  Physical  Environment  .        .  73 

(2)  Competition 74 

(3)  Imitation 74 

(4)  Suggestion 75 

(5)  Instruction 77 

(6)  Home,  School,  and  Community         ...  77 

Personal  Variations  in  the  Social  Environment      .        .  79 

(i)  The  Genius 79 


xx  Analytic  Table  of  Contents 

PAGE 

(2)  The  Outcast 80 

(3)  The  Average 80 

6.  The  Practical  Bearings  of  this  Discussion      ...  80 

(1)  Our  Duty  to  Environment          .         .         .         .81 

(2)  The  Problem  of  handling  Environment     .         .  82 

(3)  Evils  in  the  American  Environment  ...  83 

(4)  Suggestions  toward  controlling  Environment     .  84 

(5)  Tuberculosis  and  the  School      .         .         .         .91 

(6)  The  Second  Principle  of  Man-making        .        .  92 

7.  The  Abuse  of  the  Law  of  Environment          ...  92 

CHAPTER  IV 
WILL  AND  EDUCATION 

1.  The  Meaning  of  Will 96 

2.  The  Historic  Recognition  of  the  Individual  ...  97 

(1 )  The  Social  vs.  the  Individual    ....  97 

(2)  Among  Primitive  Peoples 99 

(3)  Among  Oriental  Peoples 100 

(4)  Among  the  Greeks 101 

(5)  Among  the  Romans 102 

(6)  Among  the  Teutons 103 

(7)  In  Christianity 105 

3.  Modern  Estimates  of  the  Individual       ....  109 

(1)  The  Renaissance 109 

(2)  The  Reformation 109 

(3)  The  French  Revolution no 

(4)  Anarchism  vs.  Socialism no 

(5)  Eighteenth  Century  Exaggeration  of  Will          .  in 

(6)  Nineteenth  Century  Minimizing  of  Will     .         .112 

4.  Future  Reconciliation  of  Universalism  and  Individualism  1 1 5 

(1 )  The  Meeting  of  Extremes          .         .         .         .115 

(2)  Illustrations 116 

(3)  The  Goal  of  Human  Development  .        . 

(4)  Summary  of  the  Recognition  of  Individuality     .  117 


Analytic  Table  of  Contents          xxi 

PAGE 

5.  Anticipations  of  Will  in  the  Discussions  of  Heredity 

and  Environment  .         .         .         .         .         .118 

6.  The  Contribution  of  Will  to  Man-making      .         .         .119 

(1)  Development  or  Neglect  of  Inherited  Capacity  .     120 

(2)  Use  or  Abuse  of  Environing  Opportunity  .         .120 

(3)  The  Law  of  Will  in  Man-making       .         .         .122 

(4)  The  Essence  of  Will 123 

(5)  From  Thought  to  Destiny          .         .         .         .123 

7.  The  Practical  Bearings  of  this  Discussion      .         .         .125 

(i)  The  Aim  in  Educating  the  Will         .         .         .126 
*-""~(2)  Education  as  socializing  the  Individual  and  in- 
dividualizing Society 126 

(3)  Principles  in  educating  the  Will         .  .     127 

(4)  The  Third  Principle  of  Man-making  .         .     140 

8.  Theoretical  and  Practical  Summary  of  Man-making       .     140 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MAN-MAKING 

1.  The  Nature  and  Method  of  Philosophy        .        .        .  145 

2.  Typical  Philosophies 146 

3.  A  Review  of  Racial  Progress 149 

4.  How  the  Race  might  Progress     .....  162 

5 .  The  Nature  of  Progress        .         .         .         .         .         .  1 64 

6.  The  Philosophy  of  the  Man-making  Forces          .        .  168 

(1)  Of  Heredity 168 

(2)  Of  Environment 169 

(3)  Of  Will 169 

(4)  Of  their  Cooperation          .         .         .         .         .171 

7.  Resulting  Conception  of  Nature 173 

8.  Resulting  Conception  of  God 174 

9.  Idealism  in  Educating          .         .         .         .         .         .176 

10.   The  Last  Principle  of  Man-making      .         .        .         .     177 


IDEALISM  IN  EDUCATION 

CHAPTER   I 

THE   PROBLEM    OF   EDUCATION   IN    MAN-MAKING 

THE  making  of  men  and  women,  —  this  is  the  Man-making 
occupation  of  the  ages.  The  world  has  been  busy  \ 
these  aeons  in  bringing  forth  a  man.  By  what  Ases' 
method  the  world  has  worked,  whether  by  the  Lapla- 
cian  nebular  hypothesis  or  by  the  new  Chamberlain 
planitesimal  hypothesis,  we  are  not  sure.  What 
other  products,  higher  or  lower  than  man,  whether 
on  Mars  as  surmised  by  Professor  Lowell  or  on 
other  planets,  the  world  has  produced,  we  cannot 
say.  Our  ignorance  as  to  nature's  vaster  processes 
and  products  is  full,  and  we  see  but  a  little  way. 
But  out  of  the  fulness  of  our  ignorance  and  the 
emptiness  of  our  knowledge,  we  are  able  to  assert 
that  man  is  what  the  labor  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  has  brought  forth.  He  stands  at  the  summit  of 
the  evolutionary  process  as  so  far  unfolded.  What 
greater  beings  may  later  arise  we  can  only  surmise. 
But  whatever  they  may  be,  man  is  on  the  way 
toward  them.  The  universe  of  the  past  has  pro- 
duced man  as  its  highest  product,  so  far  as  his 
knowledge  can  discover,  and  the  universe  of  the 
future  will  use  man  in  any  greater  work  it  may  have 

B  I 


2  :  /Idealism  in  Education 

in  hand  on  our  planet  Small  wonder  that  Professor 
Fiske l  saw  that  in  the  light  of  his  great  origin  man 
might  anticipate  a  great  destiny.  Otherwise  we 
should  have  to  write  "unreason"  at  the  heart  of 
the  universe,  which  was  able  to  begin  but  not  able 
to  complete  a  masterpiece.  This,  however,  we  are 
loath  to  do  in  view  of  what  man's  poor  reason  has 
already  been  able  to  see  of  rationality  in  the  universe 
at  large. 

There  is  Man   must  beware   of  easily    assuming    that    all 

\jl^cne°lT  nature  is  unconscious,  that  the  animals  alone  share 
consciousness  with  him,  that  he  alone  is  self-con- 
scious. It  may  be  true,  but  we  do  not  know  enough 
as  yet  to  assert  it.  Rather  our  minds  must  be  open 
to  the  possibility  of  consciousness  in  both  directions, 
toward  the  infinitely  small  and  toward  the  infinitely 
large.  The  electron  may  turn  out  to  be,  as  Leibniz 
might  have  supposed,  a  point  of  conscious  force, 
and  the  whole  stellar  universe  may  be  only  the  body 
of  a  wondrously  beautiful  spirit.  We  do  not  know 
enough  to  deny  the  possibility  of  these  things ;  and 
some  think,  Fechner  for  one,  we  know  enough  to 
affirm  their  actuality.  In  any  event  we  live  in  a 
universe  where  mind  is,  whether  its  limits  must  be 
drawn  far  or  near. 

The  Gremi-  Man  may  exalt  himself,  for  he  is  the  highest  self- 
consc*ous  creature  he  knows;  he  must  also  humble 
himself,  for  he  lives  in  a  universe  of  which  he  is 
very  ignorant,  and  whose  confines  it  is  easy  for  his 
imagination  to  people  with  beings  superior  to  hiii 
Man  must  not  be  Philistine  enough  to  suppose  his 
1  John  Fiskc,  "The  Dcitiny  of  Man,"  Boston,  1892. 


Problem  of  Education  in  Man-making     3 

existence  is  the  centre  of  spiritual  gravity,  nor  must 
he  be  abject  enough  to  suppose  his  existence  does 
not  weigh  in  the  general  balance  of  things.. ., 

Now  the  natural  processes  by  which  this  exalted  FromUncon- 
and  humble  creature,  man,  was  produced  we  suppose,  conscious 
without  knowing,  to  have  been  unconscious.  The  Evolution, 
nebula  or  the  planitesimals  were,  but  knew  not  that 
they  were.  So  we  suppose.  And  through  the  action 
of  laws  inherent  in  this  world-evolving  stuff,  living 
matter,  plants,  animals,  and  man,  came  about.  The 
evolution  of  a  conscious  being  was  by  unconscious 
processes.  So  science  commonly  supposes ;  but 
whether  philosophy  may  be  compelled  to  revise  this 
conclusion  we  may  later  inquire  in  our  final  chapter. 
But  man,  the  conscious  being,  studies  out  the  un- 
conscious processes  whereby  he  was  produced.  Thus 
he  becomes  informed  as  to  the  forces  that  made  him. 
Through  understanding  these  forces,  he  can  to  an 
extent  control  them.  Thus  he  begins  to  assist  in 
his  own  future  making.  So  what  was  unconscious 
evolution  produces  a  conscious  man  who  begins  to 
take  part  in  his  own  making.  Thus  the  progress 
is  from  unconscious  evolution  through  man  to  con- 
scious evolution. 

We  of  this  generation  are  just  realizing  that  hu-  Man's 
manity  is  a  process  of  conscious  evolution.  This  J 
thought  we  have  from  the  handling  of  the  Darwinian  provement. 
conclusions  by  the  students  of  mind.  Man  by  his  in- 
telligence has  won  the  information  from  the  universe 
concerning  the  processes  whereby  it  made  him ;  these 
processes  he  can  partly  control ;  thus  he  becomes  a 
conscious  partner  with  his  mother  nature  in  his  own 


4  Idealism  in  Education 

future  making.  So  we  catch  the  vision  in  fact  of  the 
greater  man  which  Plato  in  his  "  Republic  "  caught  in 
fancy.  Our  times  are  charged  with  the  sense  of  the 
potencies  of  future  manhood.  Burbank,  working  em- 
pirically, and  De  Vries,  working  scientifically,  have 
wrought  wonders  in  producing  new  specimens  of 
beautiful  and  useful  flowers  and  plants.  The  breeders 
of  animals  of  superior  blood  and  pedigree  have  for 
ages  pointed  the  way  toward  the  improvement  of  the 
human  stock.  Galton  and  Pearson  have  founded  the 
new  science  of  eugenics  to  provide  the  starting-point 
for  a  new  race  of  men.  Nietzsche  and  Shaw  put  the 
longings  of  the  time  for  the  superman  into  prose  and 
poetry.  The  dream  of  a  new  manhood  seems  realiz- 
able. Nature  by  processes  now  known  to  us  produced 
man  in  a  long  period  of  time;  why  may  not  the 
greater  man  be  produced  by  controlling  these  pro- 
cesses in  a  shorter  period  of  time  ?  Where  conscious- 
ness comes  in  to  control  unconscious  processes,  the 
evolution  and  mutation  may  be  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
Human  society  contains  now  many  variations  from 
highest  leader  to  lowest  follower.  By  the  conscious 
manipulation  of  the  force  which  produced  the  highest, 
why  may  not  the  level  of  the  lowest  be  indefinitely 
raised,  and  the  general  average  of  humanity  be  lifted  ? 
So  at  least  runs  the  dream  at  present  concerning  the 
improvement  of  the  human  species. 

And  it  is  possible  really  to  increase  the  ability  of 
the  human  stock.  Reason,  observation,  experience, 
and  the  possibility  of  progress,  —  all  indicate  that  the 
conscious  effort  of  man  can  so  second  the  unconscious 
labors  of  nature  that  time  may  be  abridged  and  that 


Problem  of  Education  in  Man-making     5 

human  powers  may  be  multiplied.  In  any  case  men- 
tal endowments  already  present  may  be  raised  to  the 
?zth  power,  and  at  best  we  know  not  what  surprises 
to  anticipate  in  the  way  of  new  mental  attainments. 

The  realization  of  the  dream  concerning  the  im-  Knowledge 
provement  of  man  demands  a  wide  understanding  on  ^fe  i^rcef 
the  part  of  the  people  of  those  processes  whereby  we  demanded, 
have  come  to  be  what  we  are,  and  the  use  of  such 
knowledge.     The  people  in  the  community  most  con- 
cerned in  the  making  of  the  new  type  of  men  and 
women,  this  most  promising  and  practical  of  all  human 
endeavors,  are  naturally  the  parents,  the  citizens,  and 
the  teachers.     To   them  is  committed,  if   they  only 
knew  it,  the  conscious  manipulation  of  those  forces 
which   determine   the   human   character.     They  are 
answering  the  question  in  fact,  whether  they  know 
it  or  not,  concerning   the   men   and  women  of  the 
coming  ages. 

But  what  are  the  forces  that  make  men  and  women  ?  The  Forces 
As  the  chemist  by  electrolysis  dissolves  the  complex 
liquid  we  call  water  into  its  constituent  elements,  so 
our  question  by  the  analysis  of  thought  would  separate 
complex  human  nature  into  its  constituent  elements. 
Let  us  recall  an  utterance  of  Shakespeare.  "  Some 
men  are  born  great,  some  achieve  greatness,  and  some 
have  greatness  thrust  upon  them."  "  Some  men  are 
born  great,"  — this  is  the  element  of  heredity.  "  Some 
have  greatness  thrust  upon  them,"  —  this  is  the  ele- 
ment of  environment.  "Some  achieve  greatness," 
—  this  is  the  element  of  individual  will.  Only,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  each  of  these  elements  helps  to  consti- 
tute every  man.  Heredity,  environment,  and  will  are 


Idealism  in  Education 


the  names  by  which  we  call  the  elements  that  in  their 
mixing  make  men  and  women. 

Our  Problem.  At  this  point  we  catch  sight  of  our  problem,  viz., 
what  are  the  first  principles  in  the  making  of  men  and 
women  ?  How  much  can  education  aid  in  this  process  ? 
To  what  extent  are  the  forces  of  heredity,  environ- 
ment, and  will  subject  to  the  influence  of  education  ? 
What  can  teachers,  parents,  and  citizens  do  in  the 
way  of  controlling  these  forces  through  educational 
insight  and  direction,  and  otherwise  ?  And  particu- 
larly, at  the  end,  is  it  possible  to  unify  and  spiritualize 
the  processes  of  man-making?  In  the  following 
chapters  it  is  our  purpose,  first,  to  consider  the  main 
facts  concerning  heredity,  environment,  and  will;  in 
each  case  to  suggest  how  far  education  can  utilize  these 
forces  in  producing  upon  the  earth  a  greater  race  of 
dwellers ;  and  in  the  last  chapter  to  find,  if  we  can,  the 
philosophy  of  the  processes  of  man-making. 

Thomion  The  grip  of  our  problem  is  so  manifest  in  the  fol- 

lowing passage  from  Thomson,  and  as  it  is  so  helpful 
to  us  to  see  a  problem  whole,  I  will  transcribe  his  words 
here:  "Since  the  issues  of  the  individual  life  are  in 
great  part  determined  by  what  the  living  creature  is 
or  has  to  start  with,  in  virtue  of  its  hereditary  rel 
to  parents  and  ancestors,  we  cannot  disregard  the  facts 
of  heredity  in  our  interpretation  of  the  past,  our  con- 
duct in  the  present,  or  our  forecasting  of  the  future. 
Great  importance  undoubtedly  attaches  to  Environ- 
ment in  the  widest  sense,  —  food,  climate,  housing, 
scenery,  and  the  animate  milieu  ;  and  to  Function  in 
the  widest  sense, — exercise,  education,  occupation,  or 
the  lack  of  these ;  but  all  these  potent  influences  act 


Problem  of  Education  in  Man-making     7 

upon  an  organism  whose  fundamental  nature  is  deter- 
mined, but  not  rigidly  fixed,  by  its  Heredity,  —  that  is, 
we  repeat,  by  its  genetic  relation  to  its  forebears." 1 

The  recent  notable  eugenic  work  of  Dr.  Saleeby  saieeby 
shows  a  similar  grasp  of  the  elements  involved  in  the  <iuoted' 
problem,  if  only  we  will  bring  together  passages  from 
different  places,  as  his  tendency  is  to  stress  heredity 
and  environment  to  the  practical  exclusion  of  will,  ex- 
cept when  incidentally  it  forces  its  way  unobserved 
into  the  discussion.  He  writes:  "Granted  that  the 
highest  of  all  objects  is  the  making  of  worthy  human 
beings,  it  is  quite  evident  that  we  must  attend  equally 
to  the  two  factors  which  determine  all  human  life  — 
heredity  and  environment.  .  .  .  The  incomparable 
superiority  of  intelligence  depends  upon  its  limitless 
and  creative  character,  in  virtue  of  which,  as  Disraeli 
puts  it,  'men  are  not  the  creatures  of  circumstances; 
circumstances  are  the  creatures  of  men.'  .  .  .  We 
may  also  dismiss,  as  based  upon  nothing  better,  the 
idea  that  the  great  [national]  tragedies  of  history 
were  necessary  events  at  all.  We  must  look  else- 
where than  amongst  the  inherent  and  necessary  fac- 
tors of  racial  life  for  the  causes  which  determine  these 
tragedies  ;  and  we  shall  be  entitled  to  assume  as  con- 
ceivable the  proposition  that,  notwithstanding  the  con- 
sistent fall  of  all  our  predecessors,  the  causes  are  not 
inevitable,  but,  being  external  and  environmental,  may 
possibly  be  controlled :  man  being  not  only  creature 
but  creator  also." 2  No  advocate  of  will  as  a  men- 

1  Thomson,  "  Heredity,"  N.  Y.,  1908. 

2  Saleeby,  "  Parenthood  and  Race-Culture,"  N.  Y.,  1909,  pp.  29, 149, 
257-258. 


8  Idealism  in  Education 

tionable  force  in  the  making  of  individuals  and  of 
nations  would  ask  for  more  than  the  two  last  passages 
give,  while  the  first  passage  grants  a  little  more  than 
sufficient  emphasis  to  the  other  two  factors. 

The  solution  of  this  problem,  theoretically  and 
practically,  is  worth  all  the  time  we  can  give  to  it, 
and  more.  It  is  the  problem  that  underlies  all 
problems.  How  to  assist  nature  in  making  the 
greater  man  is  the  fundamental  question  that  faces 
men  in  the  present  stage  of  their  evolution.  Man 
is  the  most  valuable  thing  we  know,  far  more 
valuable  than  any  or  all  of  his  possessions.  Ours  is 
a  commercial  age,  they  say.  But  the  man  is  greater 
than  a  sheep.  Ours  is  a  machine  age,  they  also 
say.  But  the  man  that  runs  the  machine  possesses 
the  value.  Both  the  practical  captains  and  the  theo- 
retical students  of  industry  and  machinery  put  the 
emphasis  on  the  man.  It  is  still  the  greater  type  of 
man  for  whom  society  waits  and  longs,  the  more 
efficient  man  both  to  protect  and  to  serve,  —  the  man 
of  the  prophetic  conception  who  shall  be  "  as  a  hiding 
place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest ; 
as  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  as  the  shadow  of  a 
great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 


REFERENCES  ON    CHAPTER  I 

CALDERWOOD,  H.,  Evolution  and  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  Lon- 
don, 1893. 

DARWIN,  C,  The  Descent  of  Man,  N.  Y.,  2d  Ed.,  Rep.  1906. 
DRUMMOND,  H.f  The  Ascent  of  Man,  N.  Y.,  1894. 
FISKE,  J.,  The  Destiny  of  Man,  Boston,  1892. 


Problem  of  Education  in  Man-making     9 

HAECKEL,  E.,  The  Evolution  of  Man  (Tr.  McCabe),  5th  Ed., 

N.Y.,  1910. 
HIBBEN,  J.   G.,   "The    Philosophical    Aspects   of  Evolution," 

Philosophical  Review,  March,  1910. 
HUXLEY,  T.  H.,  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  N.  Y.,  1896. 
JORDAN  AND  KELLOGG,  Evolution  and  Animal  Life,  Chap.  XXI, 

N.  Y.,  1907. 

SALEEBY,  C.  W.,  Parenthood  and  Race  Culture,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
TYLER,  J.  M.,  The  Whence  and  Whither  of  Man,  N.  Y.,  1897. 

Man  in  the  Light  of  Evolution,  Boston,  1899. 

WELLS,  H.  G.,  A  Modern  Utopia,  London,  1905. 


CHAPTER   II 


The  Wimett 

••:.•• 


HEREDITY  AND   EDUCATION 

LEST  we  get  lost  in  the  many  details  of  this 
chapter,  I  propose  that  we  follow  this  general  out- 
line, the  stages  in  which  will  be  indicated  in  the 
discussion  as  we  proceed.  First,  we  must  consider 
the  fundamental  place  of  heredity  in  life ;  then,  the 
nature  of  heredity ;  then,  the  mooted  question  of 
the  inheritance  of  acquired  characteristics ;  then, 
capacity  as  an  inheritance ;  then,  the  use  of  heredity 
in  making  progress ;  then,  the  practical  bearings 
of  heredity  on  education  ;  and  finally,  lest  heredity 
be  unduly  magnified,  the  abuse  of  the  law  of  heredity. 
If  any  remain  undaunted  after  this  outlay,  we  will 
proceed.  The  general  reader  will  of  course  exercise 
his  privilege  in  electing  his  courses. 

The  first  in  time  and  importance  of  the  elements 
of  man-making  is  heredity.  Biology  indeed  ordina- 
rily teaches  that  heredity  and  environment  made  the 
organism,  animal  and  human.  It  abstracts  from  any 
influence  the  individual  will  may  exert  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  organism.  So  far  as  education  is  con- 
cerned, biology  sees  in  it  but  one  of  the  many 
influences  of  the  environment  exerted  upon  the 
organism ;  and  further,  biology  commonly  teaches 
that  the  education  of  this  generation  exerts  no  in- 
fluence by  means  of  physical  heredity  upon  the 

10 


Heredity  and  Education  n 

next  generation ;  the  education  of  one  individual  is  so 
external  an  addition  to  his  nervous  make-up  that  his 
offspring  show  no  traces  of  it  in  their  physique. 
Consequently  biology  believes  that  the  influence  of 
education  in  the  making  of  man  is  limited  in  two 
very  important  respects,  viz.,  first,  by  the  other  in- 
fluential elements  of  the  environment,  and  second, 
through  the  stoppage  of  educational  results  with 
the  generation  upon  which  teachers  work.  Some 
students  of  the  subject  find  a  certain  grim  pleasure 
in  thinking  that  the  succeeding  generations  are  not 
burdened  by  the  educational  and  other  failures  of 
this  generation,  that  we  start  fresh  with  nature's 
handiwork  in  each  new  generation  unencumbered  by 
man's  past  bungling.  This  latter  question  will  con- 
cern us  later  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  so-called 
"  inheritance  of  acquired  characters."  Meanwhile 
it  is  important  to  hold  in  mind  the  fundamental  place 
biology  assigns  to  heredity  in  the  production  of  new 
organisms,  and  the  two  respects  in  which  biology 
considers  the  influence  of  education  to  be  limited. 

A  base  illustrating  the  influence   of   heredity  as  illustrations 
against  that  of  education  is  furnished  by  the  Filipino  of  Heredity- 
Pedrito,  a  member  of   the   Negrito   tribe,  who   was   Pedrito. 
thoroughly  educated  in  the  languages  by  an  interested 
Bostonian.     Pedrito  travelled  extensively,  but  finally 
disappeared,  only  to  be  accidentally  discovered  later 
by  a  German  scientist  among  his  native  tribesmen. 
One   is  reminded  of  Carlyle's   saying,   "Civilization 
is  only  an  envelope  under  which  the  savage  nature 
of  man  can  burn  forever  with  an  infernal  fire." 

A   similar  instance  is  that  of   Meme,  an  Eskimo  Memo. 


12  Idealism  in  Education 

youth,  who  was  brought  to  New  York  by  Commander 
Peary  in  1896,  together  with  a  small  party  of  Eskimos. 
The  others  all  died  of  tuberculosis.  Meme  came  from 
the  region  of  the  Humboldt  Glacier  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  Greenland;  his  people  live  within  two  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  of  the  pole,  being  the  most  northerly 
race.  His  father,  who  made  one  of  the  party,  also 
died,  his  body  was  embalmed,  and  his  skeleton  is  now 
on  exhibition  in  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  in 
New  York.  The  superintendent  of  the  museum 
adopted  Meme,  and  sent  him  to  Manhattan  College. 
Here  it  was  that  he  decided  to  renounce  civilization, 
which  he  did,  expressing  his  reasons  in  the  following 
letter  to  a  friend  :  — 

"  When  this  reaches  you  I  will  be  well  on  my  way, 
as  it  will  not  be  mailed  for  three  days.  No  matter 
what  happens,  I  won't  forget  you  or  what  you  have 
done  for  me,  my  good  old  friend.  You  made  a 
brother  of  me  when  all  the  others  that  were  responsi- 
ble for  my  being  stolen  from  my  own  country  failed. 

"  There  was  no  reason  why  you  should  have  been 
so  kind  to  me  when  you  just  happened  to  meet  me, 
but  you  have  a  big  heart  and  understand  what  the 
others  can't.  I  don't  see  any  chance  in  New  York, 
and  I  don't  want  to  be  a  burden  to  you  any  longer. 
You  would  go  on  helping  me  always,  and  I  feel  ter- 
rible about  it,  so  I  am  going  away  to  give  you  a 
chance.  They  won't  give  me  my  father's  body  out 
of  the  museum  and  they  never  keep  their  promise, 
so  I  am  disgusted  and  will  leave  it  all  if  I  can.  You 
and  Mr.  Wallace  have  been  true  friends  and  I  would 
die  for  you,  but  I  won't  stay  and  bother  you. 


Heredity  and  Education  13 

"  Never  mind  where  I  am ;  I  am  just  working  north. 
I  am  homesick  and  disgusted,  and  when  Commander 
Peary,  who  brought  me  to  New  York,  told  me  he 
had  no  room  for  me  on  his  ship,  I  lost  hope;  and 
then  when  Professor  Bumpus,  of  the  museum,  re- 
fused to  give  me  my  father's  body  so  that  I  could 
bury  it,  or  give  me  even  his  sled  and  gun,  I  gave  up 
believing  that  your  Christian  belief  which  you  taught 
me  was  meant  for  a  poor  Eskimo.  After  all,  my 
own.  people  are  more  human  and  kind,  and  I  am  go- 
ing home ;  your  civilization  has  done  nothing  but 
harm  for  me  and  my  people.  Good-by." 

A  case  of  a  different  kind,  equally  illustrating  the  D'Aiembert. 
power  of  heredity,  is  that  of  a  certain  gamin  in  Paris, 
without  known  parentage  or  open  opportunity,  de- 
veloping a  genius  in  mathematics  and  philosophy, 
who  was  finally  on  his  merit  elected  to  membership 
by  the  French  Academy.  It  was  D'Aiembert. 

A  special  case  of  heredity  is  the  transmission  of  inheritance 
the  criminal  type,  as  indicated  by  the  study  of  criminal  £friminalit 
anthropology.  In  1850  Broca  founded  the  Anthro- 
pological Society  in  Paris,  and  referred  to  certain 
characteristics  of  the  skulls  of  criminals,  starting  thus 
a  new  kind  of  phrenology.  In  1868  in  his  work, 
"  Variations  of  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domesti- 
cation,"  Darwin  developed  the  concept  of  "  atavism/' 
or  reversion  to  earlier  types.  Modern  students  of 
the  criminal,  like  the  Italian  Lombroso  and  the  English- 
man Havelock  Ellis,  establish  the  criminal  type  an- 
atomically, physiologically,  and  psychically.  The 
criminal  is  a  case  of  atavism  ;  he  has  the  feelings  and 
instincts  of  primitive  man.  He  has  a  receding  fore- 


14  Idealism  in  Education 

head,  poor  senses  except  eyesight,  and  shows  "  prog- 
nathismus,"  that  is,  projection  of  the  jaws.  And  the 
characteristics  of  the  criminal  type  are  transmitted  by 
heredity,  as  the  family  of  the  Jukes  in  New  York  State 
strikingly  illustrates.  In  this  connection  it  is  impor- 
tant to  note  that  environment  cooperates  greatly  with 
heredity  in  the  making  of  a  criminal.  There  is  not 
so  much  an  inheritance  of  criminality  as  of  those 
weaknesses  of  character,  that  lack  of  inhibition  in  the 
nervous  system,  which  are  the  fertile  soil  in  which  the 
seeds  of  crime  sown  by  an  evil  environment  flourish 
rankly.  Probably  "no  specific  tendencies  to  crime  are 
inherited.  Certain  general  mental  conditions  may 
be  inherited  which  serve  as  good  soil  for  criminal  tend- 
encies to  grow  in.  But  the  training  is  the  real  de- 
cisive factor." l  A  criminal  father  transmits  those 
weaknesses  to  his  child  which  lead  the  child  c 
into  the  temptation  of  following  the  father's  example. 
As  in  other  cases  of  scientific  doctrine,  for  example, 
of  double  personality,  so  also  here,  literature  has  taken 
up  these  notions  of  heredity  and  used  them  for  its 
own  purposes.  The  Hebrew  laws  already  recognized 
the  visitation  of  sins  of  parents  on  children.  Ibsen's 
"  Ghosts  "  shows  we  are  the  walking  embodiments  of 
past  ancestors.  Zola's  "  Human  Beast,"  ranging 
wider,  indicates  the  impossibility  of  our  escape  from 
the  animal  inheritance  within  us.  Mrs.  Wharton,  in 
"The  House  of  Mirth,"  represents  Lily  Bart  as  the 
theatre  of  greater  than  individual  forces  that  finally 
destroy  her  life  and  all  but  destroy  her  soul.  In  May 
Byron's  poem,  "At  Bay,"  one  stanza  runs  as  follows: 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike, "  Human  Nature  dub,"  N.  Y.,  1901,  p.  194. 


Heredity  and  Education  15 

"My  child  is  mine. 

Yet  all  his  gray  forefathers  of  the  past 
Challenge  the  dear  possession :  they  o'ercast 
His  soul's  clear  purity  with  dregs  and  lees 
Of  vile  unknown  ancestral  impulses: 

And  viewless  hands  from  shadowy  regions  groping, 

With  dim  negation  frustrate  all  my  hoping." 

The  French  writer  M.  J.  Guyau  gathers  these  and 
other  things  about  heredity  together  and  shows  the 
limits  they  establish  to  the  influence  of  education  in 
his  volume,  "Education  and  Heredity "  (London, 
1891). 

t 

The  term  "  heredity  "  has  two  distinct  uses  that  must  2.  The  Na- 
be  held  apart  in  our  minds  if  we  would  avoid  confu-  ^credit 
sion.     There  is  a  physical  heredity  and  there   is   a 
social  heredity.     By  social  heredity  is  meant  the  in- 
fluence  of  tradition,  passing  down  from  generation  The  TWO 
to  generation  by  word  of  mouth,  example,  and  imita-  ^  i-erm  ° 
tion.      This  great  influence  in  moulding  us  belongs  Heredity, 
with   the   other   influences   exerted  by  environment 
which  will  be  discussed  in  the  succeeding  chapter.     In 
the   present   connection  physical   heredity   alone  is 
under  consideration. 

Physical  heredity  is  the  transmission  from  parent  The  Nature 
to  offspring  of  certain  distinguishing  characters  of 
structure  and  function.  It  is  the  result  of  the  union 
of  two  germ  cells.  By  this  process  of  the  transmis- 
sion of  distinguishing  characteristics,  physical  heredity 
introduces  a  certain  unity  into  the  living  organisms  of 
past,  present,  and  future.  At  the  same  time  a  certain 
variety  is  secured  through  the  fact  that  all  the  higher 
organisms  have  two  parents,  and  also  through  the  so- 


16  Idealism  in  Education 

called  tendency  of  "  natural  variation,"  which  is  not 
very  well  understood. 

Now  the  action  of  the  forces  of  heredity  may  be 
stated  roughly  in  the  form  of  a  law,  viz.,  like  begets 
like.  It  is  a  very  simple  and  elementary  law  whose 
action  does  not  surprise  us  in  the  plant,  lower  animal, 
and  physical  portion  of  the  human  world.  We  take 
as  a  matter  of  course  the  unexceptionable  phenomena 
of  resemblance  between  offspring  and  parents  in 
species,  form,  and  function.  It  is  also  true  for  reasons 
indicated  above  that  like  begets  unlike,  no  child  re- 
sembling either  parent  exactly.  Only  where  birth 
was  by  partition  of  the  parental  cell  could  such  resem- 
blance exist.  Unlikenesses  between  offspring  and 
parent  must  always  appear  where  there  are  two 
parents.  Still,  the  deeper  law  is  that  like  begets  like, 
for  it  is  in  accord  with  this  law  that  the  dissimilari- 
ties between  the  offspring  and  a  given  parent  appear. 
In  the  vegetable  world  we  expect  every  seed  to  bear 
after  its  kind,  we  expect  to  reap  what  we  sow,  we  do 
not  expect  to  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles. 
In  the  animal  world  likewise  we  are  accustomed  to 
the  offspring  being  like  the  parents.  The  appearance 
of  mongrels  and  hybrids  among  plants  and  animals 
only  emphasizes  in  our  mind  the  fact  that  the  pos- 
terity is  the  conjoined  characteristics  of  the  ancestry. 
Th«  AppHcm-  And  the  same  law,  like  begets  like,  does  not  sur- 
ilw<oflh<  Prisc  us  e»tner  m  tne  human  world,  so  long  as  we 
Heredity  to  read  it  merely  in  a  physical  sense.  Of  course  chil- 
[JjuJ^  dren  resemble  their  parents  in  face,  form,  height, 
color  of  hair,  and  eyes.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  re- 
semblance to  parents  shows  three  types  of  variation. 


Heredity  and  Education  17 

Sometimes  the  resemblance  to  one  parent  rather  than 
to  the  other  is  striking,  —  this  is  "  predominant "  in- 
heritance. Sometimes  there  appears  a  fusion  of 
characteristics,  as  the  mixing  of  the  white  and  black 
race  giving  the  mulatto,  — this  is  " blended"  inherit- 
ance. Still  again,  sometimes  the  child  is  like  his 
father  in  some  respects  and  like  his  mother  in  other 
respects,  —  this  is  "  particulate  "  inheritance. 

In  one  respect  the  child  not  simply  is  like,  but  is,  The  work 
his  father;  in  another,  is  his  mother.  The  child  may  ofMendel- 
have  the  color  of  his  eyes  from  his  father  and  a  gentle 
disposition,  or  musical  ability  from  his  mother.  The 
color  of  his  eyes  is  not  some  color  between  the  brown 
eyes  of  his  father  and  the  blue  eyes  of  his  mother. 
There  seem  to  be  certain  "unit-characters,"  as  the 
flower-loving  Austrian  abbot,  Gregor  Mendel,  called 
them  half  a  century  ago,  which  are  received  in  their 
integrity  by  the  offspring  from  the  parents.  It  is 
further  remarkable  that  among  these  characters  some 
give  way  to  others;  the  "  recessive  "  ones  give  way  to 
the  "  dominant "  ones,  and  in  a  certain  definite  ratio. 
Where  one  parent  is  brunette  and  the  other  blonde, 
the  application  of  the  law  of  Mendel  leads  us  to  ex- 
pect in  the  large  three  times  as  many  brunette  children 
as  blonde.  The  brunette  characters  are  dominant  over 
the  blonde  ones.  It  is  commonly  supposed  that 
"  opposites  attract "  in  mating,  which  would  be  a 
kind  of  instinctive  way  nature  would  have  of  secur- 
ing variety  in  mixing  characters.  This,  however, 
like  many  other  common  suppositions,  is  a  mistake. 
It  is  also  true  that  "  opposites  repel."  There  is  no 
law  in  the  case.  Blondes  and  brunettes,  tall  and  short 
c 


l8  Idealism  in  Education 

people,  mate  with  their  like  as  well  as  with  their  un- 
like. But,  however  the  mating,  the  law  of  physical 
heredity  shows  the  offspring  to  be  the  union  of 
"  unit-characters  "  received  from  the  parents. 

But  we  have  to  note  also  that  our  inheritance  is 
also  from  earlier  ancestors.  We  inherit  not  simply 
from,  but  also  through,  our  parents.  Children  often 
strikingly  resemble  other  relatives  than  their  parents. 
The  color  of  the  hair,  red  for  example,  may  have 
skipped  a  generation.  When  children  resemble  an 
aunt  or  an  uncle,  it  is  because  these  two  have 
inherited  from  a  common  ancestor.  When  children 
resemble  their  grandparents,  it  is  a  case  of  direct 
heredity  through  the  parental  organism.  In  fact, 
we  must  greatly  enlarge  our  ordinary  notions  of 
physical  heredity.  By  no  means  is  it  to  be  limited 
to  the  influence  of  parents  on  children.  The  whole 
line  of  past  ancestors  have  had  their  share*  in  the 
making  of  any  family  of  children.  Sir  Francis 
Galton  has  formulated  this  wider  law  of  physical 
heredity  in  this  form:  "The  two  parents  between 
them  contribute  on  the  average  one-half  of  each 
inherited  faculty,  each  of  them  contributing  one- 
quarter  of  it;  the  four  grandparents  contribute  be- 
tween them  one-quarter,  or  each  of  them  one- 
sixteenth,  and  so  on."  That  is  to  say,  one-half  that 
we  inherit  comes  from  our  parents,  one-quarter 
from  our  grandparents,  one-eighth  from  our  great- 
grandparents,  and  so  on  back  to  the  first  man.  The 
fraction,  of  course,  soon  becomes  negligibly  small, 
but  in  a  sense  it  is  true  that  we  are  all  thus  the 
walking  embodiments  of  the  selves  of  our  ancestors. 


Heredity  and  Education  19 

They  live  in  us  as  we  too  shall  live  so  long  as  our 
posterity  survives,  according  to  the  familiar  saying, 
"The  dead  rule  the  living."  The  stream  of  life 
flows  on;  its  origin  we  do  not  exactly  know;  its 
conclusion  we  cannot  exactly  foresee;  the  stream 
is  too  long  for  us  to  scan  either  its  source  or  its 
mouth:  but  this  we  know,  once  to  have  received 
and  transmitted  it  ourselves  gives  to  each  parent  a 
kind  of  physical  immortality. 

But  the  action  of  the  law  of  heredity  does  begin  The  Appii- 
to  surprise  us  when  we  extend  its  application  beyond  L^wof0^6 
the  physical  into  the  region  of  the  intellectual,  the  Heredity  to 
emotional,  and  the  moral.  But  just  as  we  have 
physical  heredity  so  do  we  have  intellectual,  emo- 
tional, and  moral  heredity.  Just  how  the  living 
cells  from  the  parental  loins  that  constitute  the  body 
of  the  new  child  also  convey  to  him  his  soul,  we  can- 
not say.  It  is  the  old  puzzle  of  the  relation  of  brain 
and  mind.  But  about  the  soul  of  the  new-born  child 
we  must  say  as  we  say  of  his  body  :  he  has  it  from 
the  souls  of  his  parents.  As  the  union  of  bodies 
gives  a  new  body,  so  the  union  of  souls  gives  a 
new  soul.  The  material  elements  here,  as  doubtless 
everywhere,  are  the  bearers  of  a  psychical  life.  The 
new  individual,  body  and  soul,  is  the  product  of  his 
ancestry,  particularly  of  his  parents.  We  do  not 
need  to  suppose  that  God  created  so  many  souls 
in  the  beginning,  one  for  each  individual  who  should 
be  born  into  the  world ;  nor  that  He  now  creates  a 
new  soul  for  each  individual,  at  the  moment  of  con- 
ception, or  quickening,  or  birth.  All  that  we  need 
to  suppose  is  that  creating  is  really  a  process  of 


2O  Idealism  in  Education 

change  of  what  exists  ;  and,  as  the  new  body  is  the 
union  of  parental  germ  cells,  so  the  new  soul  is  the 
union  of  the  psychical  elements  which  those  germ 
cells  convey.  How  they  convey  any  psychical 
elements  at  all  is  a  part  of  the  same  problem  as  to 
how  the  brain  of  any  one  of  us  permits  our  conscious- 
ness to  continue.  The  wonder  and  the  mystery  of 
the  physical  transmission  of  mental  characters  led 
Professor  Shaler  to  argue  for  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.1 

Th«  inhcn-        We  have  next,  then,  to  note  that  the  resemblance  of 

Men'  und     Postcrity  to  ancestry  is  mental  and  moral  as  well  as 

Moral  Trait*,  physical.     In  the   fourth   annual  Huxley   Memorial 

Lecture  Professor   Karl   Pearson   made  his  famous 

address  on  "The  Inheritance  in  Man  of  Moral  and 

Mental  Character."     The  following  is  a  summary  of 

his  results : 

"The  irresistible  conclusion  was  that  if  man's 
physical  characters  were  inherited  even  as  those  of  the 
horse,  the  greyhound,  or  the  water-flea,  what  reason 
was  there  for  demanding  a  special  evolution  for  man's 
mental  and  moral  side?  If  the  relation  of  the  psy- 
chical characters  to  the  physical  characters  was  estab- 
lished, what  was  its  lesson?  Simply  that  geniality 
and  probity  and  ability  might  be  fostered  by  home 
environment  and  by  provision  of  good  schools  and 
well-equipped  institutions  for  research,  but  that  their 
origin,  like  health  and  muscle,  was  deeper  down  than 
those  things.  They  were  bred  and  not  created.  It 
was  the  stock  itself  that  made  its  home  environment, 
and  the  education  was  of  small  service  unless  it  were 
1  N.  S.  Shalcr,  "The  Individual,"  Oup.  XV.,  N.  Y.,  1901. 


Heredity  and  Education  21 

applied  to  an  intelligent  race  of  men.  .  .  .  No  scheme 
of  wider  or  more  thorough  education  would  bring  up 
in  the  scale  of  intelligence  hereditary  weakness  to 
the  level  of  hereditary  strength.  The  only  remedy, 
if  one  were  possible  at  all,  was  to  alter  the  relative 
fertility  of  the  good  and  bad  stocks  in  the  community."1 

Similarly  Thorndike  writes, "  Eminent  mental  ability, 
then,  and  presumably  mental  ability  in  general,  is 
mainly  the  result  of  germ  inheritance,  not  of  nurture 
or  education,  so  far  as  we  can  at  present  see."2  Also, 
the  same  author,  as  follows :  "  In  the  same  way  and 
for  the  same  reason  that  tall  parents  have  tall  children 
or  dark-haired  parents  dark-haired  children,  so  also 
stupid  parents  have  stupid  children,  hot-tempered 
parents  have  hot-tempered  children,  and  musical  par- 
ents musical  children."  3 

Ourmental  and  moral  gifts  and  defects,  the  emotional 
tendencies  toward  grave  or  gay,  the  moral  inclination 
toward  right  and  wrong,  the  peculiar  little  mental 
twists  and  turns  that  charm  or  frighten  our  associates, 
—  all  these  we  inherit  from  our  ancestors  as  truly  as 
we  inherit  their  blood,  race,  and  nationality.  True, 
these  mental  traits  show  their  little  variations  from 
generation  to  generation,  due  to  the  mixture  of  two 
parents  in  each  child,  and  due  also  to  the  tendency  of 
all  living  structure  to  vary  in  time.  But  these  varia- 
tions, as  we  shall  later  observe,  are  our  opportunity  of 
conscious  progress.  The  intellectual  child,  then,  is 
not  a  happen-so,  nor  the  lazy  child,  nor  the  weakly, 

1  Science,  Vol.  XVIII,  635-636. 

2  "  Human  Nature  Club,"  p.  184. 

8  "  Elements  of  Psychology,"  N.  Y.,  1905,  p.  195. 


22 


Idealism  in  Education 


Reversion  to 
the  Normal 


emotional  child,  nor  the  industrious  child,  nor  the 
honest  child.  These,  and  all  the  other  mental  traits 
which  together  constitute  that  psychic  complex  we 
call  his  soul,  are  really  the  equivalent  on  the  mental 
side  of  certain  definite  elements  in  his  nervous  system 
inherited  from  his  ancestors. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  heredity  to  return  to  the 
normal  type.  The  son  of  a  genius  is  not  himself  a 
genius,  though  probably  he  is  above  the  average.  The 
son  of  a  great  man  may  in  some  respects  consider 
himself  unfortunate ;  people  expect  from  him  so  much 
more  than  is  in  him.  The  sons  of  Lincoln,  Darwin, 
and  Tennyson  are  well-known  men,  but  their  variation 
from  the  normal  is  less  than  that  of  their  fathers.  Sim- 
ilarly the  son  of  a  man  of  small  capacity  tends  to  be 
more  intelligent  than  his  father,  though  probably  he 
is  below  the  average.  The  son  of  a  diseased  man  tends 
to  be  more  healthy  than  his  father.  The  son  of  a 
short  man  is  likely  to  be  taller  than  his  father,  of  a 
tall  man  is  likely  to  be  shorter  than  his  father.  The 
same  principles,  of  course,  are  true  of  inheritance  from 
the  mother.  The  fact  of  two  parents  helps  to  explain 
this  tendency  of  reversion  to  the  normal,  but  especially 
is  this  tendency  due  to  our  inheritance  from  the  remote 
ancestry.  Really  our  inheritance  is  not  dual,  but 
multiple.  It  is  our  multiple  inheritance  that  explains 
the  tendency  to  reversion. 

The  case  of  inbreeding  deserves  special  mention. 
It  is  commonly  supposed  that  inbreeding  causes 
weakness.  The  fact  seems  to  be  rather  that  the  in- 
breeding is  not  the  cause  of  the  weakness,  but  simply 
brings  to  the  surface  any  inherent  weakness.  It  is  a 


Heredity  and  Education  23 

popular  notion  that  the  royal  lines  through  much  in- 
breeding have  become  degenerate.  The  facts  are  that 
the  royal  lines  are  not  so  degenerate  as  reputed,  that 
the  inbreeding  has  brought  out  any  latent  weakness, 
and  also  that  the  inbreeding  has  preserved  the  in- 
herent strength  of  the  line.1  Of  course  too  close 
inbreeding  among  relatives  is  fraught  with  danger  to 
sanity  through  bringing  out  native  instabilities  in  the 
nervous  system.  But  the  strength  of  a  race  is  pre- 
served by  inbreeding  among  its  own  members.  A 
notable  illustration  of  this  is  the  wonderful  purity 
through  a  long  period  of  time  of  the  Jewish  race. 
Because  of  the  fact  that  some  native  weaknesses  are 
common,  which  inbreeding  would  bring  out  of  their 
latent  condition,  it  is  customary  in  the  artificial 
evolution  of  a  stock  to  alternate  periods  of  inbreeding 
with  periods  of  cross-breeding. 

Another  significant  fact  about  the  action  of  heredity  The  Gradual 
is  that  inherited  qualities  do  not  all  appear  at  birth, 
but  develop  as  the  offspring  grows.  This  is  natural. 
The  organism  has  notable  periods  of  unfolding,  from 
childhood,  through  youth,  to  manhood.  The  inherited 
qualities  come  out  especially  during  the  adolescent 
period.  This  is  the  time  when  blood  tells  most.  It 
is  not  possible  for  any  parent  or  teacher  to  say  what 
is  in  a  boy  or  girl  until  adolescence  brings  it  out. 
This  is  one  reason  why  no  boy  or  girl  should  have 
quit  school  before  or  during  the  adolescent  period. 
This  is  the  time  when  the  school  can  do  most  in  dis- 
covering to  each  individual  his  bent,  and  in  assisting 

*F.  A.  Woods,  "  Recent  Studies  in  Human  Heredity,"  The  Ameri- 
can Naturalist,  Vol.  42,  No.  502. 


Idealism  in  Education 


3.  Are  Ac- 
quired Char- 
acters 
inherited? 


him  into  the  line  of  work  and  usefulness  where  his 
greatest  capacity  lies. 

It  is  quite  true  that  any  given  individual  during 
his  own  lifetime  may  acquire  new  characteristics 
which  he  himself  did  not  inherit.  He  may  learn  to 
do  things  for  which  he  had  inherited  no  tendency. 
He  may  learn  to  speak  the  English,  rather  than  the 
French,  language;  to  smoke,  to  drink,  to  be  pro- 
fane ;  he  may  lose  a  limb  or  an  eye ;  he  may  receive 
a  wound  that  leaves  a  scar  for  life ;  he  may  be  dread- 
fully sunburned ;  his  skin  may  become  callous 
through  use  at  certain  points ;  his  occupation  may 
deform  his  skeleton;  overexertion  may  bring  on 
heart  disease;  a  muscle  may  be  atrophied  through 
disuse.  He  may  become  a  Protestant,  turn  Catholic, 
give  up  his  bad  habits,  learn  a  new  trade,  or  change 
his  citizenship.  Such  like  new  acquisitions  of  the 
individual  during  his  own  lifetime  are  called  "acquired 
characters."  An  acquired  character,  speaking  techni- 
cally, is  a  somatogenic  modification,  not  a  blastogcnic 
variation ;  that  is,  it  is  due  to  a  change  in  a  function 
of  the  organism  or  to  the  influence  of  environment 
rather  than  to  constitutional  inheritance. 

Now  a  question  of  very  great  racial  importance 
arises,  viz.,  are  acquired  characters  inherited  ?  The 
popular  opinion  is  that  they  are;  the  scientific  opinion 
seems  to  be  that  some  acquired  characters  may  be  in- 
herited. It  is  a  very  old  question.  As  in  so  many 
other  instances,  Plato  has  anticipated  this  question 
and  has  suggested  an  answer,  as  follows : 

"  Also,  I  said,  the  State,  if  once  started  well,  moves 


Heredity  and  Education  25 

with  accumulating  force  like  a  wheel.  For  good 
nurture  and  education  implant  good  constitutions,  and 
these  good  constitutions,  taking  root  in  a  good  educa- 
tion, improve  more  and  more,  and  this  improvement 
affects  the  breed  in  man  as  in  other  animals. 

"Very  possibly,  he  said."1 

This  is  clearly  the  doctrine  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  good  effects  of  education,  of  improving  the  stock 
by  nurture. 

So  the  matter  stood  in  general  until  the  scientific 
nineteenth  century.  During  the  fifty  years  succeeding 
Darwin  the  question  has  been  warmly  discussed  on 
both  sides.2  The  real  question,  technically  stated,  is, 
do  functional  or  environmental  modifications  of  a 
parent's  body  so  affect  the  gametes  or  germ  cells  that 
the  offspring  shows  the  original  modification  or  its 
representative  ?  Darwin  seems  to  have  defended  the 
affirmative,  though  the  question  was  not  very  clearly 
formulated  in  his  time.  Haeckel,  Spencer,  Eimer, 
Cope,  and  especially  Lamarck,  say  yes.  Sir  Francis 
Galton,  Karl  Pearson,  perhaps  the  rank  and  file  of 
biologists,  led  especially  by  Weissman,  say  no.  In 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  no  categorical 
answer  seems  possible  either  way.  The  facts  are  not 
all  on  one  side.  Some  acquired  characters  may  be 
inherited,  others  certainly  are  not. 

Among  acquired  characters  that  may  be  inherited,  The  Affirma- 
I  do  not  say,  are  inherited,  should  be  mentioned  the 
atrophy  of  useless  or  unused  organs;  the  blindness 

1 "  Republic,"  IV,  424  A  (Jowett,  Tr.). 

2  For  the  history  of  this  problem,  cf.  J.  A.  Thomson,  "  The  Science 
of  Life,"  1899. 


26  Idealism  in  Education 

of  creatures  living  in  caverns  and   underground,  as 
the  fish  in  the  Mammoth  Cave  or  the  burrowing  moles ; 
the  domestication  of  wild  animals ;  the  acquisition  of  | 
new  instincts  or  the  loss  of  old  ones,  as  certain  birds 
in  the  state  of  nature  once  trusting  man  and  now  fear- 
ing him ;  the  decrease  of  the  size  of  the  jaw  among 
civilized  men ;  the  inferiority  of  the  senses  among  the 
Europeans;  bad  eyes  among  watchmakers  and  en- 
gravers; near-sightedness  of  city  children;   and  the 
transmission  of  nervosity  and  madness.     According 
to  some  recent  experiments  it  appears  that  if   the  i 
ovaries  of  one  hen  are  transferred  to  the  body  of  an- 
other, the  young  chicks  will  show  the  markings  of  the 
second  hen.    This  would  seem  to  show  that  the  germ  1 
cells  are  influenced  by  the  body  of  the  parent  that 
ries  them,  as  Lamarck  says,  and  not  that  the  germ  evils 
are  independent  of  all  somatic  influences,  as  \Y 
mann's  theory  of  continuity  of    germ-plasm    claims. 
The  hen  here  seems  to  come  before  the  egg  rather 
than  the  egg  before  the  hen.     Further,  if  wild  ducks 
with  long  wings  and  small  legs  are  confined  a  few 
generations,  it  appears  that  the  wings  are  shortened 
and  the  legs  grow  stout     Here  the  effects  of  use  and 
disuse  seem  to  appear  in  the  later  generations,  as  La- 
marck said. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  the  horse  shows 
a  similar  result.  In  the  words  of  Conn  :  "  For  ex- 
ample, as  we  study  the  history  of  the  horse  family, 
we  find  that  an  originally  five-toed  animal  began  to 
walk  more  and  more  on  its  middle  toe,  in  such  a 
way  that  this  toe  received  more  and  more  use,  while 
the  outer  toes  were  used  less  and  less.  Now  that 


Heredity  and  Education  27 

such  a  habit  would  produce  an  effect  upon  the  toes 
in  any  generation  is  evident;  but  apparently  this  in- 
fluence extended  from  generation  to  generation,  for, 
as  the  history  of  the  animals  is  followed,  it  is  found 
that  the  outer  toes  became  smaller  and  smaller  with 
the  lapse  of  ages,  while  the  middle  one  became  corre- 
spondingly larger,  until  there  was  finally  produced  the 
horse  with  its  one  toe  only  on  each  foot.  Now  here 
is  a  line  of  descent  or  machine  building  in  the  direct 
line  of  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse,  and  it  seems  very 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  modification  has  been  pro- 
duced by  the  direct  effect  of  the  use  of  the  organs. 
There  are  many  other  similar  instances  where  the 
line  of  machine  building  has  been  quite  parallel  to 
the  effects  of  use  and  disuse." 1 

The  theory  of  the  inheritance  of  acquired  characters 
emphasizes  the  influence  of  the  environment  of  the 
germ  cells,  and  the  doctrine  that  the  effects  of  use 
and  disuse  are  inherited  emphasizes,  by  anticipation  in 
this  discussion,  the  part  played  by  the  individual. 

Among  the  acquired  characters  that  are  certainly  The  Neg- 
not  inherited  should  be  mentioned :  savage  perforations  ^®  of  the 
of  lips,  nose,  and  ears ;  savage  removal  of  incisors  or  Question, 
filings  of  the  teeth ;  the  rite  of  circumcision  among 
Mussulmen  and  Jews ;  the  thickened  skin  of  the  hu- 
man heel ;    the  compressed  feet  of  Chinese  women ; 
and  the  mutilation  of  animals,  for  example,  cutting 
off  the  tails  of  rats.     The  boy  of  English  parents  in- 
herits no  tendency  to  speak  English ;  he  would  learn 
German  like  a   native,  if  brought  up  by  Germans. 

!H.  W.  Conn,  "The  Story  of  the  Living  Machine,"  N.Y.,  1899, 
p.  172. 


28  Idealism  in  Education 

The  child  of  a  father  with  only  one  arm,  leg,  or  eye 
is  born  intact.  The  vices  of  the  parents  do  not 
descend  as  such  upon  the  children  by  physical 
heredity.  If  the  vices  have  undermined  the  nervous 
system  of  the  parents,  then  the  children  show 
not  the  specific  vices,  but  general  degeneracy,  mak- 
ing them  an  easy  prey  to  all  bad  influences.  Like- 
wise the  virtues  of  the  parents  do  not  descend  as 
such  upon  the  children  by  physical  heredity;  the 
parental  virtues  have  preserved  the  health  of  the 
nervous  system  unimpaired;  the  children  are  born 
with  strong  bodies;  they  are  capable  of  high  resist- 
ance to  physical  and  moral  evil. 

This  is  the  process  by  which  the  iniquities  of  the 
parents  are  visited  on  the  children  unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation,  and  this  the  process  whereby  mercy 
is  shown  unto  thousands  of  generations  of  them  that 
love  God.  My  child  cannot  inherit  my  virtues,  but 
his  greater  strength  is  their  witness,  and  through 
social  heredity  he  can  imitate  them.  Neither  does 
he  inherit  my  vices,  but  his  greater  weakness  is  their 
witness,  and  through  social  heredity  again  he  r;m 
imitate  them.  "The effect  of  alcoholic  excess  is  not 
an  increased  tendency  to  drink  alcoholic  beverages  — 
the  tendency  itself  shown  in  the  children  is  accounted 
for  as  already  congenital  to  the  parent  —  but  certain 
general  deteriorating  or  degenerative  changes  in 
the  nervous  system  or  constitution  of  the  offspring,  as 
in  hysteria,  scurvy,  idiocy,  malformation,  etc.,  which 
the  parent  did  not  have  at  all."  This  looks  as  though 
acquired  characters  are  not  inherited  as  such,  though 
their  effects  may  be.  The  view  that  acquired  charac- 


Heredity  and  Education  29 

ters  are  not  inherited  emphasizes  the  influence  of 
heredity  as  against  that  of  environment. 

In  his  great  work  on  "  Psychological  Heredity,"  Ribot's 
Ribot  concludes  on  this  question  :  "  In  general,  acci- 
dental deformities  and  mutilations  are  not  transmitted; 
we  are  not  surprised  that  the  child  of  a  man  with  one 
eye  or  one  arm  has  two  eyes  or  two  arms.  Even  the 
transmission  of  scars  is  not  always  established  on 
very  sure  proof.  But,  apart  from  the  modifications 
due  to  local,  partial,  or  brutal  causes,  there  are  those 
which  result  from  slow  action,  which  intimately  affect 
the  living  organism  by  nutrition  and  even  by  education. 
The  experiences  of  teachers  are  not  calculated  to 
weaken  the  belief  in  a  transmission  of  certain  acquired 
characters/' 1  This  last  is  a  precious  passage  for 
those  teachers  who  believe  they  are  working  for  the 
easier  education  of  the  future  race  as  well  as  for  the 
education  of  the  present  generation.  If  certain 
acquired  characters  may  be  inherited,  we  may  suppose 
that  the  education  of  this  generation  makes  more 
educable  the  nervous  system  of  the  succeeding  gen- 
erations. 

At  some  near-by  future  time  we  may  know  better  Conclusion, 
just  what  influence  the  life-history  of  the  individual  ^jj™8" 
parent  has  upon  the  child,  but  at  present  it  seems  Heredity 
safe  to  say  that  specific  acquired  characters  are  not  ourHeredlty' 
transmitted  to  the  offspring,  though,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  offspring  does  show  the  effects  of  use  and 
disuse,  and  of  any  influences  that  have  permeated 
or  poisoned  in  any  way  the  physical  life  of  the  par- 
ents.     A  short  way  of  stating  the  doctrine  would 
1  Preface  to  the  eighth  French  edition,  p.  vi,  Paris,  1906. 


3O  Idealism  in  Education 

be,  we  transmit  by  heredity  only  our  heredity,  not 
our  acquisitions;  but  any  effects  of  our  acquisitions 
upon  the  vital  forces,  for  good  or  bad,  are  transmitted. 
Suppose  a  man  inherits  money  from  his  father  and 
from  his  mother;  suppose  he  also  marries  a  girl  who 
has  money  in  her  own  name ;  suppose  he  now  lives  on 
the  interest  of  the  capital  he  inherits,  and  also  by  engag- 
ing in  business  earns  more  capital ;  the  son  of  the  match 
will  inherit  the  joint  capital  of  father  and  mother, 
plus  what  his  father  has  earned,  but  he  will  not  in- 
herit necessarily  the  tendency  toward  a  business  life. 

Just  what,  then,  does  heredity  contribute  to  man- 
making  ?  More  specific  things  than  we  can  enumer- 
ate, but  there  would  notably  appear  in  the  list  these 
four  things,  viz.,  instincts,  temperament,  constitution, 
and  capacity.  The  greatest  of  these  is  capacity.  I  n- 
stinrts  are  inherited  nervous  mechanisms  which  enable 
us  to  act  usefully  without  having  learned,  as  the  in- 
stinct of  acquisition.  Temperament  defines  our  gen- 
eral emotional  and  practical  attitude  toward  the  world, 
whether  strong  and  quick  (" choleric"),  strong  and 
slow  ("  melancholic  "),  weak  and  quick  ("  sanguine  M), 
or  weak  and  slow  ("  phlegmatic").  Our  physical  con- 
stitutions, whether  strong  or  weak,  with  the  attendant 
train  of  consequences,  are  likewise  the  fruits  of  inheri- 
tance. And  most  significant  of  all  for  the  man,  ca- 
pacity, which  is  the  limit  of  possible  attainment,  is  an 
inheritance. 

What  we  are  capable  of  becoming  in  body,  in 
intellect,  in  morality,  in  art,  in  religion,  with  our  ut- 
most effort,  —  this  is  our  capacity.  Perhaps  the  word 


Heredity  and  Education  31 

"  capacities  "  would  be  better,  as  we  differ  so  in  our 
ability  in  different  lines.  Every  potentiality  of  de- 
velopment is  an  inheritance.  We  cannot  by  taking 
thought  add  a  cubit  to  our  physical  or  mental  stature, 
or  to  the  physical  or  mental  stature  of  any  other 
being.  Teachers  cannot  develop  a  ninety  per  cent 
mathematical  ability  where  only  a  seventy-five  per  cent 
is  the  limit  of  the  inherited  capacity.  A  mark  indi- 
cating attainment  may  be  given,  but  not  the  ability 
that  .deserves  the  mark.  In  the  same  way  inheritance 
sets  limits  to  the  possible  development  of  morals  and 
of  physique.  Of  course  we  must  beware  of  suppos- 
ing we  have  reached  the  absolute  limit  of  inherited 
capacity  before  we  really  have.  Just  what  the 
physical  formation  of  nerve-cells  and  connecting 
fibres  is  in  the  brain  that  conditions  the  different 
degrees  of  capacity  we,  of  course,  are  in  no  position 
at  present  even  to  conjecture.  But  limit  there  is,  as 
effects  have  causes  and  nothing  happens  without  a 
cause.  The  cerebral  elements  represent  the  union  of 
preexisting  elements. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  at  this  point  that  heredity  is  The  Ca- 
rather  of  general  capacity  than  specific  ability.  The 
daughter  of  a  strong  woman  intellectually  or  morally 
may  not  be  strong  in  her  mother's  way,  but  in  some 
other  way.  So  of  the  son.  President  Eliot  is  a  great 
educator;  a  lamented  son  was  a  notable  landscape 
gardener.  This  distinction  is  easily  noted  in  the 
cases  of  famous  sons  descended  from  noble  mothers, 
and  of  notable  women  whose  fathers  were  strong 
men.  In  these  cases  the  child  has  inherited  a  gen- 
eral capacity  but  not  a  specific  ability.  This  latter 


32  Idealism  in  Education 

turns  more  on  training.     At  this  point  the  influence 

of  environment  appears. 

rit          Further,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  we  inherit  capac- 
.  not  jtv>  not  character.     We  inherit  certain  limits  to  our 

'.  m  .....  .         . 

attainment,  certain  dispositions,  tendencies,  inclina- 
tions, impulses,  temperaments,  temptations  ;  we  do  not 
inherit  our  actual  attainment,  our  thoughts,  deeds, 
habits,  and  the  conscious  life  of  man.  The  son  of  an 
inebriate  will  be  weak  physically  ;  he  does  not  inherit 
the  appetite  for  liquor,  unless  perchance  such  a  craving 
was  already  congenital  in  his  ancestry;  least  of  all 
does  he  inherit  what  he  will  do  with  such  craving. 
At  this  point  the  influence  of  the  third  element,  the 
personal  will,  appears.  Character  is  an  acquisition,  not 
an  inheritance  ;  capacity  is  an  inheritance,  not  an  ac- 
quisition. The  moral  attainments  of  civilized  man  are 
a  product  of  his  will,  not  of  his  inheritance.  Our  char- 
acter is  what  we  become  within  our  inherited  limits. 

In  case  capacities  are  inherited,  in  case  specific  ac- 
quisitions are  not  inherited,  what  is  the  possibility  of 
any  progress  in  the  evolution  of  human  capacity  ?  By 
way  of  illustration  I  will  report  the  story  of  a  little 
girl  who  was  learning  to  count.  "  Papa,"  she  said, 
11  how  much  can  anybody  count  ?  "  "  Oh,  little  girl, 
you  can  just  count  on  and  on,  and  there  isn't  any 
end."  "Papa,"  said  she,  "there  is  one  end,  isn't 
there  ?  that's  the  end  you  start  at."  So  with  heredity. 
It  seems  endless  behind  us,  it  seems  endless  in  front 
of  us,  but  we  of  this  generation  are  at  the  point  where 
the  two  ends  meet.  We  are  in  the  position  of  deter- 
mining the  future  race,  as  we  are  in  the  position  of  be- 


Heredity  and  Education  33 

ing  determined  by  the  past  race.  It  takes  two  parents 
to  produce  a  new  life.  The  union  of  strength  with 
strength  gives  greater  strength  in  the  offspring,  and  the 
union  of  weakness  with  weakness  gives  greater  weak- 
ness in  the  offspring,  and  there  are  all  possible  degrees 
in  between.  The  fundamental  method  of  improving 
the  human  species  is  by  the  right  selection  of  life  part- 
ners. This  much  at  least  of  heredity  young  people 
ought  to  know,  that  they  may  marry  indeed  for  love, 
but  that  they  may  be  sure  to  love  where  the  brains 
are.  The  combination  of  head  and  heart  in  love- 
making  by  the  young  people  of  this  generation  would 
alone  appreciably  lift  the  level  of  human  efficiency. 
These  are  the  lessons  to  teach  young  people,  as  they 
love  themselves,  as  they  love  their  kind,  as  they  are 
called  by  the  highest  sanctions  of  nature  to  the 
perpetuation  of  the  human  species. 

When  once  we  grasp  the  full  import  of  the  doctrine  The  Division 
of  heredity,  we  see  the  responsibility  for  the  future  ^es^e°r 
race  is  divided  between  the  present  and  the  past ;  tween  Past 
we  realize  how  much  of  ourselves  is  not  due  to  our-  and  Present> 
selves;  we  realize  also  that  as  acquired  characters,, 
as  such,  are  probably  not  inherited,  our  ability  to  add 
to  and  take  from  the  destiny  of  the  race  is  some- 
what diminished.     Parents  and  children  are  partakers 
of  the  same  vast  enduring  stream  of  life ;  the   child 
and  the  parent  are  both  the  offspring  of  the  com- 
mon stream ;  parents  and  children  are  really  brothers 
and  sisters,  with  the  life  stream  the  universal  mother. 

There  is  a  venerable  theological  doctrine  known  as  Heredity  is 
predestination.     Jonathan  Edwards,  John  Calvin,  St. 
Augustine,  and  originally  St.  Paul,  have  declared  it  to  tion. 


34  Idealism  in  Education 

be  the  true  explanation  of  human  destiny.  The  first 
morn  of  creation  saw  what  the  last  day  should  reveal 
The  eternal  counsels  of  the  Most  High  have  set  to 
each  man  his  part  to  play,  both  here  and  hereafter,  which 
in  no  way  can  he  escape.  We  will  not  discuss  this  the- 
ological doctrine  as  such.  But  I  like  to  take  these  older 
views  down  out  of  the  heaven  of  abstraction  and  consider 
what  facts  on  the  earth  they  can  possibly  mean. 

Now  to  my  mind  the  facts  of  heredity  are  the  truth 
for  which  the  doctrine  of  predestination  can  really 
stand.  This  generation  was  actually  predestined  in 
capacity  by  all  the  past  generations,  and  the  present 
generation  is  actually  in  a  position  to  predestinate  the 
capacity  of  the  next  This  view  both  keeps  and 
destroys  the  rigidity  of  the  old  predestination ;  keeps 
it,  for  the  past  cannot  be  undone,  and  we  are  what 
we  are  in  capacity;  destroys  it,  for  the  future  is 
unmade,  but  is  in  process  of  making  by  the  present. 
One  generation  largely,  not  entirely,  predestines 
the  next  Parents  are  the  co-workers  with  God 
in  the  making  of  a  better  human  race.  Through  all 
the  generations  the  thread  of  heredity  runs,  giving 
unity  and  solidarity  to  the  human  race.  Herein  is 
hope  for  human  progress  in  that  each  individual 
may  purify  the  life  stream  to  a  certain  extent ;  here  is 
a  freedom  of  individual  action  for  or  against  the  wel- 
fare of  the  race  in  relation  to  the  necessary  laws  of 
heredity ;  here  is  individual  choice  between  polluting 
or  cleansing  the  waters  of  racial  life.  Every  parent 
has  a  share  in  the  universal*  plan  of  predestinating  the 
future  results  in  terms  of  present  causes.  The  gifts 
we  have  the  power  to  bestow  are  life  and  its  capacities 


Heredity  and  Education  35 

in  the  germ,  good  nutrition  and  care  before  birth,  and 
the  best  rearing  after  birth. 

The  influence  of  heredity  in  the  making  of  men  and  6.  T  e  Prac- 
women  is  so  profound  and  yet  so  subject  to  human  ggElrin      f 
control  that  at  this  point  we  must  inquire  concerning  Heredity  on 
the  practical  ways  of  bettering  the  human  stock  by  Educatlon- 
the  right  handling  of  this  force.     To  sum  up  briefly 
what  we  now   think  we  know   about  heredity  and 
human  improvement:    The  elemental  way  of  improv- 
ing the  race  is  through  the  right  union  of  parental  The  Relation 
germ  cells.     The  chronological  beginning  of  the  ele-  °J  Heredity11 
vation   of   human    efficiency   is  in  the  union  of  life 
partners.     Education  cannot  change  capacity   given 
by  heredity ;  it  can  only  develop  it.    There  is  no  democ- 
racy in  education  in  the  sense  that  the  school  can 
turn  out  equal  minds.     Some  minds  have  ten  talents, 
others  five,  still  others  one.  /  As  Ruskin  has  it,  "  But 
apricot  out  of  currant,  —  great  man  out  of  small,  — 
did  never  yet  art  or  effort  make."     The  business  of  the 
school  is  to  enable  each  type  of  mind  to  put  its  own 
inherited  talent  out  to  usury.     What  education  does 
for  this  generation,  the  next  generation  probably  does 
not    physically    inherit.      Education    develops,    not 
endows,  this  generation ;  it  also  permits  the  acquisi- 
tion of  certain  desirable  characteristics.     Of  course, 
we  are  not  speaking   here  of   "  social   inheritance " 
through  the  influence  of  environment,  which  antici- 
pates the  next  chapter. 

Even  then  if  there  should  turn  out  to  be  no  inheri-  The  Eiemen- 
tance  of  acquired  characters,  an  advantageous  mixture  Improve  the 
of  the  parental  stocks  can  breed  a  stronger  race  of  Race. 


36  Idealism  in  Education 

men.  Plato  long  ago  observed  that  dogs  and  horses 
of  superior  pedigree  and  blood  could  be  bred  by  arti- 
ficial selection  of  the  parents,  and  in  his  ideal  and  im- 
practical "  Republic"  made  a  similar  provision  through 
the  control  of  marriage  for  a  better  human  stock.  In 
our  day  by  crossing  stocks  Luther  Burbank  has  worked 
marvels  with  fruits  and  flowers ;  in  his  little  readable 
and  valuable  book,  "  The  Training  of  the  Human 
Plant,"  he  thinks  that  the  capacity  of  men  may  be 
similarly  enlarged,  and  that  America,  with  its  diversity 
of  stock,  is  a  fit  field  for  the  experiment  in  i;uc 
making.  The  practical  difficulty  of  improving  the 
human  stock  in  this  way  in  a  free  society  is  that  men 
and  women  have  liberty  of  marital  choices.  But  as 
the  animal  shows  us  natural  selection  of  parentage, 
as  the  stock  farm  shows  us  artificial  selection  of 
parentage,  may  we  not  look  to  education  in  home 
and  school  so  to  form  the  judgment  of  growing 
young  men  and  women  that  society  shall  show  us  the 
rational,  though  individual,  selection  of  parentage  ? 
A  Duty  of  Passing  then  at  this  point  from  principles  to  appli- 
cat*on»  Parents  an^  teachers  must  acquaint  young  people 
with  the  fundamental  facts  of  heredity.  They  must 
also  inform  themselves  as  to  what  these  facts  are. 
Especially  must  the  sources  of  life  be  kept  pure  and 
sweet.  A  sound  education  in  matters  of  sex  is  indis- 
pensable, the  emphasis  being  laid  on  the  use  to  the 
race  of  this  most  important  of  the  physical  functions. 
We  do  not  so  much  need  a  course  in  sexology  and 
heredity  as  we  need  personal  words  on  appropriate 
occasions  from  fathers  and  male  teachers  to  the  hoys 
and  from  mothers  and  female  teachers  to  the  girls. 


Heredity  and  Education  37 

The  school  and  the  home  can  teach  the  value  of 
heredity  to  those  who  are  to  make  the  future.  He- 
redity and  the  mighty  influence  it  exerts  in  the  making 
of  men  and  women  can  be  controlled  by  instructing 
the  new  generation  in  the  right  choice  of  life  partners. 
A  man  or  woman  with  a  weakened  and  diseased  con- 
stitution ought  not  to  marry.  Love  alone  is  not  a 
sufficient  foundation  for  the  home,  though  no  home 
is  rightly  founded  without  love ;  the  health,  endow- 
ments, and  character  of  the  one  loved  are  equally  to 
be  considered.  Anticipate  in  the  children  what  you 
now  see  in  their  possible  father  or  mother. 

When  the  conditions  permit,  marriage  is  a  social  Good  Birth, 
duty,  especially  for  the  more  gifted.  The  talent  of  this 
generation  should  be  invested  in  the  children  of  the  next. 
Every  child,  unasked  as  to  the  origin  of  its  being,  has 
the  right  to  be  well  born ;  its  parents  owe  it  health. 
A  child  is  well  born  who  comes  of  clean  and  sturdy 
stock,  who  has  in  the  fibres  of  his  being  no  hereditary 
taint  of  inebriety,  scrofula,  insanity,  or  other  disease, 
and  who  begins  his  earthly  existence  with  vitality  and 
the  promise  of  health.  Parents  should  be  neither 
too  young  to  be  themselves  mature  nor  too  old  to  be 
still  vigorous,  nor  for  any  reason  enfeebled.  The 
child's  first  cry  on  entering  this  life  is  his  natural 
response  to  the  cold  world  in  which  his  existence 
becomes  independent ;  it  is  his  inalienable  right  to  be 
so  well  born  that  existence  is  to  him  a  pleasure  and 
not  a  painful  struggle  through  life.  The  trouble  is, 
parents  think  of  these  things  too  late ;  laying  prudish- 
ness  aside,  these  things  should  be  definitely  taught 
to  young  people  by  the  appropriate  persons.  Girls 


38  Idealism  in  Education 

especially  must  be  taught  the  sacred  truth,  which  their 
own  natural  instincts  confirm,  that  no  personal  career 
in  life  is  comparable  in  value  or  satisfaction  to  being 
the  mother  of  well-born,  truly  nurtured  children. 
Rational  Especially  should  heredity  be   controlled  also  by 

instructing  the  new  generation  in  the  right  principles 
for  selecting  the  home  mate.  "  Sexual  selection,"  as 
Darwin  called  it,  works  naturally  and  advantageously, 
but  slowly,  in  the  animals.  It  can  never  be  made  to 
work  by  legal  prescription  in  man ;  this  mistake  Plato 
made  in  destroying  the  choice  of  mates  in  the  "  Repul 
lie."  An  enlightened  individual  judgment  and  a  com- 
pelling public  opinion  are  the  true  means  for  securing 
right  selections  among  men  and  women.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  hope  that  rational  selection  can  do  for 
man  in  a  shorter  time  what  natural  selection  does  for 
the  animals  in  the  longer  time,  that  is,  breed  the  better 
type.  In  the  following  quotations  the  best  present 
wisdom  in  the  guidance  of  marital  selection  is  cm- 
bodied :  "  The  clear  lesson  of  Mendelian  studies  to 
human  society  is  this:  that  when  two  parents  with 
the  same  defect  marry  —  and  there  is  none  of  us  with- 
out some  defect  —  all  of  the  progeny  must  have  the 
same  defect,  and  there  is  no  remedy  for  the  defect 
by  education,  but  only,  at  the  most  in  a  few  cases, 
by  a  surgical  operation.  .  .  .  The  only  rule,  a  very 
general  one,  that  can  be  given  at  present  is  that  a 
person  should  select  as  consort  one  who  is  strong 
in  those  desirable  qualities  in  which  he  is  himself 
weak,  but  may  be  weak  where  he  is  strong."  l 

1C.  B.  Davenport,  "Influence  of  Heredity  on  Human  Society,"  in 
"Race  ImproTcmcnt  in  the  United  SUtet,"  Phihu,  1909,  pp.  19,  21. 


si 

Heredity  and  Education  39 

It  is  alarming  to  students  of  human  progess  like  "Race 
Francis  Galton,  Karl  Pearson,  President  Eliot,  Presi-  S 
dent  Roosevelt,  that  those  members  of  society  whose 
offspring  would  be  most  efficient  are  not  reproducing 
their  kind.  The  most  fit  are  the  least  fertile.  The 
primal  mandate  to  the  most  highly  endowed  needs  to 
be  heard  and  obeyed  again,  "  multiply  and  replenish 
the  earth."  Teachers  and  parents  must  help  create 
a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  children  in  the  home. 
Our  first  Federal  census  was  made  in  1790,  the  next 
preceding  the  present  one  in  1900 ;  during  this  period 
the  American  family  has  shrunk  from  an  average  of 
5.8  persons  to  an  average  of  4.6.  In  the  colonial  days 
the  number  of  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  to 
each  family  was  2.8,  as  compared  with  1.5  to-day.  Of 
course  it  is  true  that  the  movement  of  the  population 
from  the  country  into  the  cites  does  not  encourage 
the  having  of  large  families ;  babies  are  not  welcome 
in  "  flats."  But  the  decrease  in  the  size  of  the  family 
in  America  is  not  in  itself  so  alarming;  one  might 
argue  with  some  justice  that  the  fewer  the  children 
1  the  better  the  chance  each  one  has.  Such  an  argu- 
ment has  been  made  for  France,  where  to  every  child 
under  sixteen  years  there  are  2.6  adults  of  self-support- 
ing age.  The  main  trouble  is  that  the  large  families 
continue  with  the  people  on  the  whole  least  fit  to  mul- 
tiply, and  the  small  families  are  found  most  among 
those  most  fit. 

Professor  Karl  Pearson  has  studied  this  question  of 
"race  suicide"  among  the  British  upper  classes  par- 
ticularly. He  says :  "  Our  merchants  declare  that  we 
are  no  longer  strong  enough  to  compete  with  the 


40  Idealism  in  Education 

Germans  or  the  Americans.  Our  scientists,  when  they 
have  seen  what  is  going  on  in  foreign  lands,  proclaim 
the  glory  of  foreign  universities  and  advocate  the  de- 
velopment of  technical  instruction.  Our  politicians, 
stricken  with  fear,  demand  heroic  remedies. 

"  There  is  something  at  the  bottom  of  all  this ;  it 
is  not  simple  literature,  or  the  fantastic  sociology  of 
uncultivated  people.  There  is  a  lack  of  men  of  supe- 
rior intelligence ;  there  is  a  lack  of  intelligence  in  the 
British  merchant,  workman,  and  professional  man. 
There  is  poverty  of  great  directing  minds  and  of 
average  dirigible  minds.  This  must  come  from  the 
fact  that  the  superior  breeds  or  families  of  the  nation, 
intellectually,  are  not  reproducing  in  sufficient  quan- 
tity. It  is  the  mediocre  and  inferior  breeds  that 
propagate  like  rabbits.  The  least  fit  are  the  most 
fertile.  If  this  is  the  case,  it  will  be  vain  to  introduce 
better  educational  methods.  They  will  not  raise  the 
hereditarily  feeble  intellect  to  the  level  of  that  which 
is  hereditarily  strong.  Education  cannot  take  the 
place  of  breed;  it  cannot  put  into  the  blood  what 
has  not  been  placed  there  by  those  who  alone  have 
the  power  to  do  so.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that 
reproduction  in  the  superior  stocks  should  be  more 
abundant  than  it  is  ;  otherwise  the  proportion  of  s 
rior  to  inferior  individuals  will  rapidly  change  in  favor 
of  the  latter  ;  the  worthless  elements  will  gain  enor- 
mously on  the  valuable  ones  unless  we  find  the  means 
cither  to  diminish  the  fertility  of  the  former  —  which 
is  impracticable  —  or  to  increase  that  of  the  latter, 
which  is  practicable,  for  it  depends  on  themselves, 
their  relative  sterility  being  certainly  voluntary." 


Heredity  and  Education  41 

These  views  of  Pearson  indicate  the  clear  duty  to 
their  kind  of  those  upon  whom  nature  in  her  bounty 
has  conferred  the  higher  gifts.  The  Registrar-General 
of  Births,  Deaths,  and  Marriages  in  England  and 
Wales  shows  in  his  seventieth  report  that,  in  the 
period  1876-80,  the  annual  rate  of  increase  by  excess 
of  births  over  deaths  was  14.56  for  1000;  in  1907,  it 
had  fallen  to  11.27.  Commenting  upon  this  decrease 
he  says:  "  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  much  of  it  is 
due  to  deliberate  restriction  of  child-bearing.  The 
fact  is  also  significant  that  at  the  last  census  period, 
1900-02,  the  fertility  of  English  wives  was  lower 
than  that  recorded  in  any  European  country  except 
France/1 

These  and  other  similar  investigations  into  "  race- 
suicide  "  and  eugenics  show  at  least  these  two  things: 
that  the  more  fit  should  become  more  fertile;  and 
that  heredity  sets  very  definite  limits  to  what  education 
can  accomplish,  directly  contravening,  in  fact,  a  widely 
accepted  opinion  which  finds  expression  in  the  Japan- 
ese proverb  :  "  Education  is  more  than  birth.'' 

Some  persons  are  unfit  to  be  parents  ;  the  offspring  Segregation 
of  such  are  doomed  from  the  womb  to  belong  to  the  c  e  unfit* 
deficient  classes.  Society  is  gradually  coming  to 
recognize  that,  if  the  race  is  to  be  bettered,  indeed,  if 
the  race  is  to  be  protected,  these  people  must  be 
segregated.  A  nation  of  individualists,  as  America 
j  mostly  is,  does  not  relish  such  an  extension  of  social 
j  authority.  But  thirty  or  more  states  have  already 
taken  action  looking  in  this  direction.  Those  persons 
unfit  for  parentage  should  be  isolated  in  celibate  in- 
dustrial communities.  The  list  includes  the  insane, 


42  Idealism  in  Education 

the  idiotic,  the  feeble-minded,  the  epileptic,  the  con- 
genitally  deaf,  the  congenitally  blind,  the  inebriate,  1 
the  syphilitic,  and  the  incurable  drug  fiends.     Espe- 1 
daily  should  the  feeble-minded  be  segregated  ;  in  the 
case  of  women   their  weakness   makes  them  easy 
victims  of  unbridled  passion,  their  children  are  regu- 
larly half-witted ;  and  the  trouble  we  would  avoid  is  | 
spreading  itself  in  geometrical  ratio.     In  vain  does  so- 
ciety establish  philanthropic  institutions  for  the  educa-  j 
tion  of  the  deficient  classes  when  it  permits  the  feedersl 
of  such   institutions  freedom   of   social  intercourse. 
Society  is  very  slow  in  learning  that  a  railing  about  I 
the  top  of  a  precipice  is  better  than  a  hospital  at  the 
bottom.     Social   prevention   is   more  economical   in 
money  and  in  racial  vitality,  which  is  true  wealth, 
than  social  cure.     We  have  been  content  to  prune  off 
the  branches  of  the  tree  of  evil  instead  of  digging  it 
up  by  the  roots. 

Other  Pro-          It  is  estimated  that  two-fifths  of  one  per  cent  of 
I 

P^^trc  the  population  are  feeble-minded  and  epileptic ;  that 
two  per  cent  of  the  school  population  are  so.  The 
figures  are  not  alarming  in  themselves,  but  we  do  not 
want  them  increasing  by  marriage.  Segregation 
not  unkind  to  the  afflicted  individuals,  and  it  is 
mercy  to  the  race.  Other  less  satisfactory  rcmedic 
have  been  proposed,  such  as  more  restrictive  marrin 
laws,  sterilization,  or  even  death.  Restrictive  ma 
riage  laws  will  but  lightly  affect  the  unfit,  tending 
rather  through  the  denial  of  the  marriage  sanction  1 
add  illegitimacy  to  the  imbecility  of  the  offsprir 
Sterilization  would  be  effective,  but  it  disregards 
much  the  springs  of  life,  and  reduces  its  objects  to  1 


Heredity  and  Education  43 

social  disesteem  of  eunuchs.  As  for  the  death  penalty 
for  such  misfortune,  humanity  would  lose  in  its  essen- 
tial spirit  of  humaneness  more  than  it  gained  in 
increased  physical  efficiency  by  such  a  return  to  the 
subhuman  standard  of  murder  that  prevails  in  nature. 
On  the  whole,  social  detention  is  both  effective  and 
considerate. 

Ought  education  to  seek  to  develop  the  strongest  Develop  the 
or  the  weakest  point  in  heredity  ?  If  we  could  count 
on  the  transmission  of  an  acquired  character,  and 
were  aiming  at  the  elevation  of  the  racial  capacity, 
we  should  have  to  develop  the  weakest  point,  as  sup- 
posedly it  could  be  more  easily  improved  upon  than 
the  strongest.  But  we  are  perplexed  at  present  in 
our  answer  to  this  practical  question  because  we  do 
not  know  precisely  the  effect  of  training  on  heredity. 
So  the  question  can  be  only  tentatively  answered  and 
only  in  reference  to  the  individual.  In  the  gymna- 
sium the  body  is  brought  to  its  best  estate  by  develop- 
ing the  weak  points  up  to  the  standard  of  the  strong, 
that  general  harmony  may  ensue.  The  same  plan  is 
a  pretty  ideal  in  the  school,  especially  if  the  school  is 
regarded  as  the  gymnasium  of  the  mind.  But  the 
analogy  does  not  hold  very  well  in  the  case  of  mind. 
Where  heredity  has  left  us  weak  we  are  likely  to 
remain  weak,  as,  for  example,  in  common  sense, 
humor,  or  temperament,  despite  much  effort.  It 
therefore  pays  in  the  case  of  the  individual  to  develop 
him  most  in  the  forte  in  which  he  is  strongest ;  this 
will  be  his  contribution  to  society.  This  method  is 
attended  with  the  risk  of  narrowness,  eccentricity, 
and  specialization,  but  it  accomplishes  highest  indi- 


44  Idealism  in  Education 

vidual  achievement  and  greatest  social  progress. 
The  risk  is  to  be  run,  minimized  indeed  by  some  at- 
tentive effort  to  the  weak  points,  while  the  strongest 
points,  however,  are  receiving  the  greatest  emphasis. 
The  notion  of  a  well-balanced,  all-around,  harmoni- 
ously developed  human  mind  is  a  fictitious  ideal;  we 
are  strong  in  some  points  and  weak  in  others ;  our 
general  ability  is  really  an  average  of  varying  abilities 
in  different  directions.  As  nature  endows  us  this 
way,  educational  effort  should  be  similarly  propor- 
tioned, giving  most  time  to  the  strongest  points.  A 
genius  in  a  given  line  may  actually  be  handicapped 
by  being  compelled  to  follow  alien  interests.  Society 
has  many  men  who  can  do  the  things  we  do  poorly; 
we  are  fortunate  if  society  has  not  many  men  who 
can  do  the  things  we  do  best.  While  the  strong 
points  are  to  be  emphasized,  the  weak  points  are  not 
to  be  neglected.  And  both  strong  and  weak  points 
may  need  stimuli  to  awaken  them. 

Arouv  It  is  important  to  recognize  with  fair-mindedness 

that  heredity  is  good  as  well  as  bad,  that  there  is 
good  in  the  worst  of  us  as  well  as  bad  in  the  best  of 
us,  that  it  is  one-sided  to  excuse  evil-doing  on  the 
score  of  bad  heredity  without  at  the  same  time  also 
condemning  it  on  the  score  of  good  heredity.  Also  it 
is  important  to  recognize  that,  though  by  heredity  boys 
and  girls  are  dull  in  some  lines,  they  also  by  heredity 
are  capable  in  other  lines.  We  must  arouse  the 
dormant  heredity,  both  the  moral  and  the  intellectual. 
There  is  something  good  in  the  worst  child  to  which 
to  appeal  if  we  can  but  find  it ;  there  are  some  lines 
of  capacity  in  the  stupidest  child  if  we  can  but  clis- 


Heredity  and  Education  45 

cover  them.  In  the  search  for  the  elements  of  good 
heredity  we  must  utilize  various  stimuli,  patiently  try- 
ing many  appeals,  trusting  that  finally  some  one  of 
them  will  strike  the  responsive  chord  in  the  child's 
inherited  constitution. 

The  child  to  be  reared  and  taught,  though  small,  study  the 
though  but  recently  born,  is  as  old  as  the  race.  chtiT^ 
Education  cannot  begin  at  the  beginning;  it  must 
Itake  account  of  a  foundation  that  is  already  laid. 
jThe  great  claim  of  children  upon  their  educators  is 
jthat  they  be  understood.  Watch  for  the  appearances 
|of  heredity.  Treat  with  them.  The  child's  nature 
is  not  a  sheet  of  white  paper  to  be  written  upon,  nor 
a  block  of  wood  to  be  carved  into  any  form,  nor 
molten  brass  to  be  cast  into  any  image,  nor  rough 
stuff  to  be  built  up  in  accord  with  an  architect's 
plan ;  none  of  these  time-honored  images  are  reli- 
able :  the  child's  nature  is  a  seed  of  life  with  an 
immanent  design,  perhaps  a  whole  flower  garden, 
weeds  and  all.  To  educate  a  child  is  to  comprehend 
the  plan  of  its  soul  and  to  assist  this  plan  toward  its 
full  realization.  Study  to  know,  then,  your  individual 
child,  and  use  your  knowledge.  No  two  souls  are 
precisely  alike,  not  even  of  twins.  Least  of  all,  then, 
is  education  the  recasting  of  all  souls  in  the  same 
mould. 

It  will  help  some  in  understanding  individual  chil-  and  the 
dren  to  know  their  parents.     We  usually  feel   that  Parents» 
ve   are  in  closer  touch  with  children  after  meeting 
heir  parents,  and  we  are.     Not  that  we  can  induce 
he  child  from  the  parents,  for  the  mixture  of  them 
>oth  is  unique  in  him,  and,  after  all,  he  goes  back 


Idealism  in  Education 


and  the 

Races  of 
Men. 


Recapitula- 
tion Theory. 


behind  them  too  in  the  matter  of  inheritance.  But 
to  understand  parents  sharpens  our  expectant  atten- 
tion. 

In  the  same  way,  but  to  a  lesser  degree,  it  will 
help  us  to  study  race  characteristics.  Then,  know- 
ing the  race  of  the  child,  his  little  oddities  and 
variations  are  more  significant  to  us.  And  so  we 
know  better  what  to  do  next  in  guiding  his  develop- 
ment. 

Perhaps  the  chief  claim  to  greatness  of  Ernst 
Haeckel  as  a  biologist  is  his  formulation  and  defence 
of  the  so-called  "  biogenetic  law."  It  is  his  main 
argument  for  the  evolution  of  man  from  lower  organ- 
isms. This  is  the  law  in  its  technical  form :  "  The 
evolution  of  the  foetus  (or  ontogenesis)  is  a  condensed 
and  abbreviated  recapitulation  of  the  evolution  of  the 
stem  (or  phylogenesis);  and  this  recapitulation  is  the 
more  complete  in  proportion  as  the  original  develop- 
ment (or  palingenesis)  is  preserved  by  a  constant 
heredity ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  becomes  less  com- 
plete in  proportion  as  a  varying  adaptation  to  new 
conditions  increases  the  disturbing  factors  in  the 
development  (or  cenogenesis)." 

The  heredity  of  the  child  according  to  this  law 
is  from  all  his  ancestry,  though  the  fraction  becomes 
infinitesimal  long  before  the  animal  ancestor  of  man 
is  reached.  The  recapitulation  theory  holds  that 
man  in  his  physical  and  mental  growth  repeats  the 
stages  of  the  racial  history.  In  a  general  way  th 
formula  is  demonstrably  correct  At  a  certain  period 
in  its  prenatal  development  the  human  embryo  shows  i 
the  analogue  of  the  gills  of  the  fish.  The  love  of  chil- 


Heredity  and  Education  47 

dren  for  playing  in  water  may  be  traceable  to  man's 
aquatic  ancestry.  This  theory  helps  us  to  under- 
stand the  animal  instincts  of  children  and  to  treat 
with  them.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  conclude  from 
it  that  we  must  let  young  children  be  savages  before 
we  can  civilize  them.  For,  in  their  cases,  the  racial 
development  may  be  abridged,  as  the  law  itself 
allows,  by  a  single  lesson  in  manners  and  morals. 
And,  further,  the  influence  of  a  civilized  social 
environment  is  constantly  at  work  against  the  out- 
croppings  of  the  animal  nature.  The  recapitulation 
theory  is  a  light,  but  not  a  guide. 

In  order  to  avoid  developing  latent  weaknesses  in  Right 
a  race,  it  must  intermarry  with  other  races.  Inbreed-  Immisratlon« 
ing  is  good  to  fix  prepotent  qualities  ;  cross-breeding 
is  good  to  prevent  inherent  weaknesses  coming  out. 
To  cross  breeds  between  a  stronger  and  weaker 
race  is  doubtless  good  for  the  weaker  but  bad  for 
the  stronger.  For  the  weaker  members  of  a  given 
race  to  multiply  breeds  inferiority.  These  things 
mean  two  conclusions  for  the  American  people  on 
the  immigration  question,  so  far  as  racial  improve- 
ment here  is  concerned ;  viz.,  that  inferior  races  who- 
would  intermarry  with  the  native  stock  should  be 
excluded  from  our  shores;  and  that  of  all  inferior 
races  only  the  superior  members  who  might  inter- 
marry with  each  other  should  be  admitted.  Physical, 
educational,  and  property  tests  are  none  too  many 
to  apply.  The  African  slaves  and  immigration  from 
the  Orient  and  from  southern  Europe  have  injured 
our  native  stock;  the  immigration  from  northern 
Europe  is  beneficial.  Immigrants  are  now  flocking 


48  Idealism  in  Education 

to  our  shores  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a  year.  They 
need  to  be  both  better  selected  before  they  come  and 
better  protected  after  their  arrival. 

Marriage  Persons  who  marry  should  be  physically  fit.     There 

1  Cil5>  is  no  way  of  determining  whether  they  are  so  without 

medical  examination.  Many  right-minded  persons 
voluntarily  undergo  such  examination,  out  of  respect 
for  their  possible  mate  and  for  their  posterity.  It  is 
a  safe  precaution  to  encourage.  Some  states  are 
requiring  medical  tests  of  all  candidates  for  the 
marriage  license.  Such  requirements  once  again 
emphasize  the  gradual  extension  of  social  right  over 
personal  liberty.  In  the  interest  of  the  race  a  per- 
son physically  unfit  has  no  right  to  marry.  Theoret- 
ically marriage  tests  are  correct;  practically,  they 
may  make  the  marriage  relation  more  attractive 
through  forbidding  it  to  the  unfit,  and  so  encourage 
illegitimacy.  Such  an  outcome  could  be  avoided 
only  by  a  stronger  individual  sentiment  than  exists 
against  "elective  affinities"  and  cohabitation,  and 
by  social  detention  of  the  worst  cases. 

Woman*!  The  physically  fit  woman  has  no  right  not  to  marry 

**&*•  under  appropriate  conditions.  Most  women  intui- 
tively recognize  their  duty  to  the  race  through  the 
leading  of  nature.  College  women  are  most  apt  not 
to  do  so;  a  smaller  percentage  of  these  as  a  class 
marry,  these  marry  later  in  life,  and  they  have  fewer 
children.  The  reasons  are  social  as  well  as  personal. 
A  college  woman  is  likely  to  be  independent  eco- 
nomically and  she  likes  her  freedom ;  in  view  of  her 
years  in  school  she  is  older  when  it  is  convenient  to 
marry ;  she  has  ideas  of  her  own  and  is  more  careful 


Heredity  and  Education  49 

in  bestowing  her  affections ;  she  does  not  find  a  poorly 
educated  man  congenial;  having  many  interests  already 
established,  children  are  either  unwelcome,  or  else 
must  not  be  so  numerous  as  to  engage  all  her  time ; 
and  society  is  continually  offering  her  more  opportu- 
nities to  earn  her  own  living.  Recent  economic  and 
social  changes  are  putting  the  woman  forward.  Under 
our  present  system  of  ideals  of  womanhood  and  of 
female  education,  these  conditions  must  be  regarded 
as  logical  and  proper  conclusions. 

It  is  certainly  too  much  to  say,  "  In  the  United 
States  the  so-called  higher  education  of  girls  has 
been  proved  in  effect  to  sterilize  them  —  and  these 
the  flower  of  the  nation's  girlhood,  and  therefore,  the 
very  elect  for  motherhood."  l  On  the  contrary,  the 
college  woman,  being  in  the  position  she  is,  is  prob- 
ably doing  as  nearly  her  full  duty  to  society  as  any 
social  class.  She  does  marry,  she  does  bear  children, 
she  raises  them  well,  and  she  is  responsive  to  social 
needs. 

In  general,  the  American  ideal,  in  contrast  with  the 
continental  ideal  of  woman,  is  that  she  must  be  edu- 
cated for  herself  and  not  for  man,  that  she  must  be 
educated  in  subject-matter  and  method  as  a  man  is 
educated.  Perhaps  Bryn  Mawr  best  typifies  these 
conceptions. 

Without  entering  into  the  complex  and  world-old 
question  of  woman's  place  in  society  and  her  appro- 
priate education  therefor,  I  simply  record  my  view 
that  woman  should  be  educated  both  for  herself  and 
for  man;  that  she  should  be  educated  for  the  pri- 

1  Saleeby,  "  Parenthood  and  Race  Culture,"  p.  89. 
£ 


50  Idealism  in  Education 

vate  rather  than  the  public  types  of  service,  —  for  the 
home  and  school,  rather  than  for  the  pulpit  and  bar ; 
that  her  education  should  not  be  modelled  after  that 
of  the  man's  college,  but  in  matter  and  method  should 
take  account  of  woman's  distinct  nature  and  function 
in  society;  that  domestic  economy  and  training  for 
motherhood  are  essential  in  her  education  ;  that  these 
views  are  in  accord  with  the  obvious  intent  of  nature 
and  so  will  in  the  end  prevail ;  that  when  they  do  pre- 
vail, the  college  woman,  trained  for  society,  teaching, 
home,  and  motherhood,  will  be  the  main  reliance  of  the 
race  for  self-improvement;  that  this  service,  though 
disguised  below  masculine  occupations  in  some  cases, 
really  constitutes  the  highest  happiness  of  woman. 

But  college-bred  or  not,  a  woman  who  is  to  marry 
has  certain  rights.  She  has  the  right  to  refuse  an  un- 
welcome proffer  of  marriage ;  she  has  the  right, 
whether  she  cares  to  exercise  it  or  no,  to  choose  as 
well  as  wait  to  be  chosen  ;  and  when  married,  she  has 
the  right  to  select  the  periods  of  gestation.  Where 
woman  is  properly  regarded  by  man,  in  society  and 
the  home,  her  rights  will  take  care  of  themselves. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  "to  be  feminine"  and  "to 
be  weak"  have  been  almost  synonyms  for  so  long  a 
time.  It  is  not  necessarily  so.  In  primitive  societies 
the  woman  is  the  outdoor  worker  and  is  strong.  The 
Orient  shut  her  up  in  a  harem.  Even  the  Greeks 
kept  her  at  home.  The  Roman  matron  likewise  was 
a  home  body.  Mediaevalism  enclosed  her  in  con- 
vents or  chivalry  assigned  her  those  delicate  qualities 
still  considered  feminine.  The  Renaissance  ought  to 
have  brought  woman  out  into  the  open  air,  but  it  did 


Heredity  and  Education  51 

not.  Modern  "  society  "  still  keeps  her  in  vitiated 
and  artificial  atmospheres.  But  the  outdoor  era  is 
dawning.  Biology  has  taught  both  men  and  women 
to  regard  physical  vigor  with  favor.  The  physical 
emancipation  of  woman  is  a  part  of  her  general 
modern  emancipation.  Outdoor  games  and  sports 
distinguish  the  strong  from  the  weak.  According  to 
present  preferences,  and  fortunately  for  the  new  gen- 
eration, the  strong,  vigorous  woman  is  at  a  premium. 
Physical  training  and  gymnastics  in  the  schools  have 
helped.  Even  fashion  has  played  a  beneficial  part 
in  getting  women  out  of  doors.  Exercises  in  which 
they  now  freely  participate  include  golf,  tennis,  swim- 
ming, motoring,  horseback  riding,  rowing,  and  basket- 
ball. These  things  have  increased  both  beauty  and 
health.  They  have  not  made  women  as  strong  as  men, 
but  they  have  made  them  stronger.  In  the  race  for 
strength  woman  as  a  class  has  one  decided  advantage, 
freedom  from  the  habit  of  smoking.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
their  new-found  freedom  will  not  lead  women  to  con- 
tract this  habit,  signs  of  which,  however,  have  ap- 
peared. Smoking  is  indeed  not  so  much  a  racial  as 
an  individual  enemy,  weakening  appetite,  hindering 
growth,  and,  withal,  being  an  economic  extravagance. 

For  the  good  both  of  mother  and  child  the  con-  Prenatal 
ditions  of  gestation  should  be  comfortable,  agreeable,  Influence' 
and  free  from  anxiety.     Either  no  conception  should 
have  occurred,  or  else  the  little  visitor  from  the  be- 
ginning should  be  welcome.     Before  birth  the  physi- 
cal life  of  the  child  is  one  with  that  of  the  mother 
through  the  placental  connection.      Since  the  mind 
influences  the  body,  both  the  mind  and  body  of  the 


52  Idealism  in  Education 

mother  should  be  free  from  strain  and  sudden  fright. 
The  influence  certainly  extends  to  the  body  of  the 
child,  and  so  conditions  in  a  general  way  his  mental 
efficiency.  Cases  are  dubious,  however,  of  the  physi- 
cal markings  of  the  child  from  the  mother's  frightful 
experiences.  Her  general  mental  condition,  through 
influencing  her  body,  influences  the  child's  body  and 
so  in  a  general  way  his  mental  strength.  But  it  is 
idle  to  suppose  that  the  mother  by  wishing  it  can  en- 
dow her  child  with  qualities,  musical,  oratorical,  etc., 
he  does  not  inherit  During  the  prenatal  period  the 
life  of  the  mother  should  go  on  very  much  as  usual, 
with  a  few  modifications.  Under  healthy  conditions 
there  is  only  a  minimum  of  risk  and  discomfort  The 
things  to  be  avoided  are  overexertion,  sudden  efforts, 
unhygienic  acts  of  whatsoever  kind,  tight  or  insufficient 
clothing,  too  little  or  too  rich  food,  indulgence  of 
craving  for  indigestible  articles  of  diet,  the  use  of 
alcohol,  coffee,  and  tea,  and  too  much  indoor  life-. 
A  normal  amount  of  activity  about  the  house  and 
walking  in  the  open  air  are  beneficial.  It  would  be 
well  if  all  mothers  could  hear  the  voice  of  the  annun- 
ciating angel  with  religious  joy. 

Universal  The  peace  of  a  nation  improves  its  stock.     War 

appeals  to  the  spirit  of  patriotism  and  to  manly  cour- 
/\  age-  College  men  especially  heard  its  call  in  our 
Civil  War.  Frederick  the  Great  and  Napoleon  pre- 
ferred the  tall  soldier.  War  selects  the  physically  and 
morally  fit  and  leaves  them  upon  the  battlefield.  The 
wars  of  Rome,  though  usually  successful,  left  the 
city  in  the  control  of  a  mob.  It  is  claimed  that  Na^ 
poleon  reduced  the  stature  of  the  French  people.  The 


Heredity  and  Education  53 

army  is  a  serious  drain  upon  the  vital  energies  of  the 
nations  with  great  standing  armies.  War  leaves  the 
least  fit  men  behind  to  repopulate  the  country.  Peace 
is  a  condition  of  race  improvement.  One  condition 
favoring  universal  peace  is  a  universal  speech,  leading 
to  better  comprehension,  to  more  sympathy,  to  the 
establishment  of  a  universal  republic  of  letters. 

It  is  true  that  rational  selection  often  interferes  isPhiian- 
with  the  action  of  natural  selection.  Civilization  is 
characterized  by  insanity,  bad  eyes,  poor  teeth,  indi- 
gestion, etc.  The  oculists  make  unfit  eyes  to  suffer 
no  disadvantage  in  social  competition,  the  dentists 
preserve  unfit  teeth  and  the  next  generation  has  teeth 
still  less  fit.  Society  by  philanthropy  seeks  to  make 
the  unfit  fit.  Weak  animals  fall  out  of  the  race,  but 
weak  men  have  their  burdens  borne  for  them.  The 
hungry  are  fed,  the  poor  are  clothed,  the  outcast  is  given 
another  chance,  the  fatally  sick  are  kept  alive,  the  illiter- 
ate are  educated.  Philanthropy  does  for  unsuccessful 
adults  what  nature  in  the  animal  kingdom  does  only  for 
the  young.  Would  we  be  better  off  to  imitate  nature 
more  ?  Is  our  philanthropy  misguided  ?  So  think 
Spencer,  Nietzsche,  and  Bernard  Shaw.  Thoreau 
says,  "  Still  we  live  meanly,  like  ants ;  though  the  fable 
tells  us  we  were  long  ago  changed  into  men;  like 
pygmies  we  fight  with  cranes ;  it  is  error  upon  error, 
and  clout  upon  clout,  and  our  best  virtue  has  for  its 
occasion  a  superfluous  and  evitable  wretchedness." 

The  veteran  founder  of  eugenics  has  written  in  his 
last  work : 

"  It  is  known  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  huge 
stream  of  British  charity  furthers  by  indirect  and  un- 


54  Idealism  in  Education 

suspected  ways  the  production  of  the  unfit.  It  is  most 
desirable  that  the  money  and  other  forms  of  attention 
bestowed  on  harmful  forms  of  charity  should  be  di- 
verted to  the  production  and  well-being  of  the  fit. 
For  clearness  of  explanation,  we  may  divide  the  newly 
married  couples  into  three  classes,  with  respect  to  the 
probable  civic  worth  of  the  offspring.  There  would 
be  a  small  class  of  "  desirables,"  a  large  class  of  "  \ 
ables,"  of  whom  nothing  more  need  be  said  here,  and 
a  small  class  of  "  undesirables."  It  would  clearly  be 
advantageous  to  the  country  if  social  and  moral  sup- 
port, as  well  as  timely,  material  help,  were  extended 
to  the  desirables  and  not  monopolized  as  it  is  now  apt 
to  be  by  the  "undesirables."  l 

But  while  philanthropy,  in  so  far  as  it  is  devoted 
to  the  unfit,  does  weaken  the  race,  it  also  brings  a 
most  valuable  compensating  feature  in  its  sympathy 
and  sense  of  humanity.  On  the  whole  the  gain  by 
philanthropy  is  greater  than  the  loss.  The  note  of 
humanity  is  worth  all  it  costs  the  race.  With  it  are 
bound  up  the  finer  social  feelings  which  one  day  will 
make  the  world  at  peace;  meanwhile  philanthropy  is 
learning  to  benefit  the  unfit  individual  at  the  s 
time  that  it  prevents  him  from  propagating  his  kind 
to  injure  the  race.  If  the  sense  of  humanity  gave 
way  before  the  process  of  natural  selection,  it  would 
reinstate  the  war  of  all  against  all,  the  doctrine  of 
might  is  right,  and  the  physical  would  usurp  the  place 
of  the  moral.  Meantime  it  is  important  to  remember 
that  natural  selection  brought  about  just  that  rise  of 
intellect  which  to-day  favors  philanthropy  among  men. 

1  FrtncU  Galton,  "  Memories  of  My  Life,"  N.  Y.  1908. 


Heredity  and  Education  55 

These  and  other  practical  methods  that  will  occur  to  The  First 
the  reflective  reader  are  our  dependence  for  applying  FrinciPle  of 
our  knowledge  of  heredity  in  raising  the  level  of  making, 
human  capacity.  An  old  Scotch  lady  came  late  to 
service.  "  What,  is  the  sermon  done  ?  "  she  inquired 
of  the  sexton  at  the  door.  He  replied,  "  It  is  said, 
Madam,  not  done.'1  Or,  as  Benjamin  Franklin  puts 
it  in  his  discourse  on  "  The  Way  to  Wealth  "  :  "  Thus 
the  old  gentleman  ended  his  harangue.  The  people 
heard  it  and  approved  the  doctrine,  and  immediately 
practised  the  contrary,  just  as  if  it  had  been  a  common 
sermon."  But  we  are  learning  with  Franklin  how 
true  it  is  of  nations  and  societies,  as  well  as  of  in- 
dividuals, "  that,  if  you  will  not  hear  reason  she'll  rap 
your  knuckles."  Meanwhile  it  is  something  to  know 
as  a  guide  to  possible  conduct  that  the  first  of  the 
first  principles  in  the  making  of  men  and  women  is 
that  of  eugenics  ;  reduce  the  multiplication  of  the  un- 
fit and  increase  the  multiplication  of  the  fit. 

Though   great,   passing    great,    the    influence    of  7-  The  Abuse 
heredity  in  the  making  of  men  and  women,  still  it  is  Heredity W 
possible  to  abuse  this  law.      We  abuse  the  law   of 
heredity,  by  overstating  the  case,  when  we  say,  with- 
out qualification,  "Men  are  born,  not  made."     Strong 
and  true  as  it  otherwise  is,  the  following  statement  of 
a  student  of  the  Mendelian  principles  of  heredity  errs 
by  omission.     Punnet  writes  : 

"  Speaking  broadly,  our  present  policy  aims  at  rais- 
ing the  standard  of  the  less  fit ;  at  attempting  to  bring 
them  closer  by  such  means  to  those  who  are  richer  in 
natural  endowment.  Has  suc,h  a  line  of  endeavor  any 


56  Idealism  in  Education 

hope  of  permanent  success  ?  Or  is  it  based  upon  a 
misconception  of  the  nature  of  living  things  ?  Some 
there  are,  doubtless,  already,  who  question  whether 
the  general  policy  pursued  with  regard  to  the  lowest 
classes  of  the  nation  is  a  sound  policy;  who  are 
troubled  with  the  suspicion  that  Hygiene  and  Educa- 
tion are  fleeting  palliatives  at  best,  which,  in  post- 
poning, but  augment  the  difficulties  they  profess  to 
solve.  To  them  the  facts  of  heredity  may  speak  \\ith 
no  uncertain  voice.  Education  is  to  man  what  ma- 
nure is  to  the  pea.  The  educated  are  in  themselves 
xthe  better  for  it,  but  their  experience  will  alter  not 
one  jot  the  irrevocable  nature  of  their  offspring. 
Permanent  progress  is  a  question  of  breeding  rather 
than  of  pedagogics ;  a  matter  of  gametes  [germ  cells], 
aot  of  training.  As  our  knowledge  of  heredity  cl 
and  the  mists  of  superstition  are  dispelled,  there  grows 
upon  us  with  ever  increasing  and  relentless  force  the 
conviction  that  the  creature  is  not  made  but  born/'1 
The  creature  is  born  in  part,  he  is  made  in  part, 
and  in  part  he  makes  himself,  especially  in  the  case 
of  man.  Heredity  alone  is  insufficient  to  explain 
man.  Even  the  poet  is  made  as  well  as  born;  so 
also  the  surgeon,  the  doctor,  the  teacher,  the  lawyer, 
the  minister,  the  mother,  the  merchant.  Give 
good  environment,  hardly  ten  per  cent  of  the  populace, 
if  so  much,  would  prove  to  be  born  irremediably  unfit 
Life's  failures  are  in  most  instances  traceable  to 
the  heaven  of  infancy  being  spoiled  by  the  hell 
of  environment.  As  George  Macdonald  write 
"Baby": 

1 R.  C  Punnctt,  "  Mendeliim,"  Cambridge,  1905,  pp.  80-81. 


Heredity  and  Education  57 

«  Where  did  you  get  that  little  tear  ? 
I  found  it  waiting  when  I  got  here." 

Through  the  non-inheritance  of  acquired  characters 
each  new  generation  is  given  practically  a  fresh  start, 
which  it  would  have  entirely  but  for  the  racial 
poisons  and  the  effects  of  long  use  and  disuse.  Two 
children  of  the  same  hereditary  endowment,  if  such 
were  possible,  would  under  different  circumstances 
result  in  different  persons. 

The  use  of  heredity  alone  in  explaining  men  has 
been  called  "the  grandfather"  theory,  in  allusion 
doubtless  to  the  famous  witticism  of  Dr.  Holmes. 
But  as  a  certain  New  England  educator  once  dryly 
remarked,  it  is  difficult  to  explain  the  difference  be- 
tween the  brothers  Cain  and  Abel  on  the  grandfather 
theory. 

Another  illustration  of  the  abuse  of  the  law  of 
heredity  is  the  proverb  coined  by  the  children  of 
Israel  in  captivity  to  explain  their  national  calamity : 
"  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge."  A  great  prophet  of  individ- 
ualism, Ezekiel,  arose  to  dispel  such  fatalism  with 
the  principle  :  "  The  son  shall  not  die  for  the  father's 
sin ;  the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die." 

We  abuse  the  law  of  heredity  when  we  assert  it  is 
the  only  law  at  work  in  the  making  of  a  man  ;  when 
we  say,  if  a  child  is  born  wrong,  all  is  wrong,  if  well, 
all  is  well ;  when  we  are  unduly  depressed  by  a  bad 
heredity,  or  made  unduly  confident  by  a  good  he- 
redity. We  must  not  forget  the  "  sports  "  with  which 
nature  provides  us;  they  are  the  remarkable  varia- 
tions from  their  ancestry.  So  a  good  nature  may 


58  Idealism  in  Education 

come  out  of  what  seemed  unpromising  heredity,  and 
a  bad  nature  may  come  out  of  what  seemed  a  promis- 
ing heredity.  A  very  slight  bruise  from  the  environ- ; 
ment  may  notably  affect  the  growth  of  a  living 
organism.  The  Alpha  of  man-making  is  heredity, 
but  there  is  also  an  Omega.  The  laws  of  environ- 
ment and  will  work  in  conjunction  with  the  law  of 
heredity. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  free  ourselves  from  the  over- 
whelming sense  of  the  weight  of  heredity  resting 
upon  us  from  out  the  irrevocable  past,  and  in  order  | 
to  see  the  processes  of  education  and  man-making  in] 
their  integrity,  it  is  necessary  at  this  point  to  turn  to  1 
the  discussion  of  the  other  elements  that  go  into  the 
production  of  our  complex  human  nature. 


REFERENCES   OR   CHAPTER  II 

ALLEN,  W.  H.,  Civics  and  Health,  N.  Y.,  1909. 

ALLIN,  ARTHUR,  "  Social  Recapitulation,*1  Ed.  Rev.,  Vol.  XVIII, 

PP-  344-3S*. 
BALDWIN,  J.  M.,  Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations,  Cha 

N.  Y.,  1906. 
BALL,  W.  P.,  Are  the  Effects  of  Use  and  Disuse  Inherited? 

N.  Y,  1891. 
BATESON,  W.,  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Variation,  London, ', 

1894. 

Mendel's  Principles  of  Heredity,  Cambridge,  1909. 

BjdRKMAN,  "What  Health  is  Worth  to  Us,"  World's  Work\ 

March,  1909. 
BREWSTER,  **  Breeding  Plants  and  Animals  to  Order," 

Work,  December,  1907. 

BROOKS,  W.  K.,  Law  of  Heredity,  Baltimore,  1883. 
Foundations  of  Zoology,  N.  Y.,  1899. 


Heredity  and  Education  59 

CARVER,  T.  M.,  Sociology  and  Social  Progress,  Boston,  1905, 

Selection  XXV  (Galton). 
COPE,  E.  D.,  Primary  Factors  of  Organic  Evolution,  Chicago, 

1896. 

DARWIN,  CHARLES,  Origin  of  Species,  N.  Y.,  1859. 
Variation   of  Plants    and  Animals  under  Domestication, 

N.  Y.,  1868. 

—  Descent  of  Man,  N.  Y.,  1871.  f 

DAVENPORT,  C.  B.,  Eugenics,  N.  Y.,  1910. 
DOCK,  L.  L.,  Hygiene  and  Morality,  N.  Y.,  1910. 
DUGDALE,  R.  L.,  The  Jukes,  N.  Y.,  1888. 
EIGENMANN,  C.  H.,  "The  Physical  Basis  of  Heredity,"  Pop.  Sc. 

Mo.,  Vol.  LXI,  pp.  32-44. 

EIMER,  G.  H.  T.,  Organic  Evolution,  London,  1890. 
EWART,  J.  C.,  The  Penicuik  Experiments,  London,  1899. 
"  The  Experimental  Study  of  Variation,"  Nature,  Vol.  LXIV, 

pp.  482-488. 

FOREL,  A.,  The  Sexual  Question,  1908, 
GALTON,  FRANCIS,  Hereditary  Genius,  London,  1892. 

English  Men  of  Science,  London,  1874. 

Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  N.  Y.,  1883. 

Natural  Inheritance,  London,  1889. 

"A    Diagram    of   Heredity,"    Nature,   Vol.   LVII,    1898, 

P-  293- 

Memories  of  My  Life,  N.  Y.,  1909. 

GEDDES  AND  THOMSON,  The  Evolution  of  Sex,  4th  Ed.,  London, 

1901. 

GUYAU,  M.  J.,  Heredity  and  Education,  1891. 
HAYWARD,  F.  H.,  Education  and  the  Heredity  Spectre,  London, 

1908. 
JORDAN  AND  KELLOGG,  Evolution  and  Animal   Life,   Chaps. 

X-XI,  N.  Y.,  1907. 

JORDAN,  D.  S.,  The  Blood  of  the  Nation,  Boston,  1903. 
M'KiM,  W.  D.,  Heredity  and  Human  Progress,  N.  Y.,  1900. 
MUNRO,  M.  F.,  «  Three  Years  in  the  Life  of  a  Child,"  Ed.  Rev., 

Vol.  XVI,  pp.  367-377- 

MORGAN,  C.  L.,  Habit  and  Instinct,  London,  1896. 
Animal  Behavior,  London,  1900. 


60  Idealism  in  Education 

NISBET,  J.  F.,  Marriage  and  Heredity,  1889. 

OPPENHEIM,  The  Development  of  the  Child,  Chap.  IV,  N.  Y.,   I 

1898. 

PEARL,  R.,  "  Eugenics,"  World's  Work,  January,  1908. 
PEARSON,  K.,  The  Grammar  of  Science,  2d  Ed.,  London,  1900. 
PUNNETT,  R.  C.,  "  Applied  Heredity,"  Harper s>  December,  1908. 

—  Mendelism,  Cambridge,  1905. 
RIBOT,  TH.,  Heredity,  London,  1875. 
ROMANES,  G.  J.,  Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  Chicago,  1895. 
SALEEBY,  C.  W.,  Parenthood  and  Race  Culture,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
[Several  Authors],  Race   Improvement   in   the   United  States, 

(Am.  Acad.  Pol.  and  Soc.  Sc.),  Philadelphia,  1909. 
SPENCER,  H.,  Principles  of  Biology,  London,  1864-1867. 
THOMSON,  J.  A.,  "  History  and  Theory  of  Heredity,"  1 

Roy.  Soc.,  Edinburgh,  1888-1889. 

Science  of  Life,  Chicago,  1899. 

Heredity,  N.  Y.,  1905. 

THORNDIKE,  E.  L.,  Heredity,  Correlation,  and  Sex  Differences, 

N.  Y.,  1903 
Educational  Psychology,  Chaps.  IV-V,  2d  Ed.,  New  York, 

1910. 

WALLACE,  A.  R.,  Darwinism,  Chap.  XIV,  N.  Y.,  1890. 
DE  VRIES,  H.,  Plant  Breeding,  Chicago,  1907. 

—  The  Mutation  Theory,  Chicago,  1910. 
WEISMANN,  A.,  Essays  on  Heredity,  Oxford,  1891-2* 
-  The  Germ-Plasm,  London,  1893. 

On  Germinal  Selection,  1896. 

WILSON,  E.  B.,  The  Cell,  2d  Ed.,  N.  Y.,  1900. 


CHAPTER   III 

ENVIRONMENT   AND   EDUCATION 

AT  the  beginning  of  our  discussion  of  this  second  Outline  of 
element  in  man-making  let  us  note  in  advance  the  thlsChaPter- 
main,  points  to  engage  our  attention.  First,  we  want 
to  know  the  nature  of  environment ;  then  its  general 
influence;  then  the  influence  of  the  physical  environ- 
ment ;  then  the  influence  of  the  social  environment ; 
then  certain  personal  variations  from  the  average  of 
the  social  environment ;  then  the  practical  bearings  of 
the  discussion  ;  followed  finally  by  an  account  of  the 
abuse  of  the  law  of  environment.  These  successive 
steps  in  the  argument  will  be  made  clear  to  us  as 
we  proceed. 

By  the  much-used  term  "  environment,"  we  mean   i.  The  Na- 
the  natural  circumstances  under  which  an  organism  Environment 
develops.     And  these  circumstances  contribute  some- 
thing to  the   character   of  the  organism,  so   much,  The  Mean- 
indeed,  that  the  influence  of  environment  is  one  of  ^frm "  En- 
the  elemental  forces  in  the  growth  of  an  organism,  vironment." 
The  environment  is  the  stage  and  the  scenery  of  the 
drama  of  evolution.     It  is  possible  to  consider  the 
lower  types  of  organisms  as  all  but  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  reference  to  their  heredity  and  environ- 
ment.    These    two    influences    in    relation    to    the 
organism  are  like  the  parallelogram  of  forces  which 

61 


62  Idealism  in  Education 

physics  describes ;  the  movement  of  the  body  is  ex- 
plicable in  terms  of  these  forces.  Even  when  con- 
sciousness is  sufficiently  developed  in  the  scale  of  an- 
imal ascent  to  have  its  presence  remarked,  as  in  the 
earthworm,  still  the  theory  of  "determination"  in 
biology  would  say  that  the  later  evolving  forms 
are  still  explicable  in  terms  of  heredity  and  en- 
vironment, without  reference  to  any  consciousness 
that  may  be  present.  Many  biologists  to-day,  how- 
ever, notably  Baldwin  and  Conn,  are  recognizing  the 
presence  and  the  usefulness  of  consciousness  in 
organic  evolution,  especially  of  the  higher  forms. 
When  the  theory  of  evolution  comes  to  be  finally 
written,  it  will  be  a  psycho-physical  theory.  The  fact 
itself  of  the  nature  and  influence  of  consciousness 
must  concern  us  later  in  the  discussion  of  the  contri- 
bution of  individual  effort  to  the  making  of  the  race. 
Meanwhile  it  is  enough  for  us  to  note  that  the  term 
environment  means  the  surroundings  of  a  developing 
organism. 
Kindiof  There  are  two  kinds  of  environment  that  influence 

Envuon-  living  organisms;  viz.,  the  physical,  sometimes  called- 
the  socionomic,  and  the  social.  Plants  and  animals 
are  more  subject  to  the  physical  than  to  the  social  en- 
vironment; perhaps  man  is  quite  as  much  subject  to 
his  living  social  environment  as  to  his  physical. 

PhyiicmL  The  physical  environment  includes  such  elements 

as  soil,  air,  light,  heat,  climate,  water,  food,  salinity, 
electricity,  gravity,  scenery,  and  even  the  body,  as  en- 
vironing the  germ  cells.  The  references  on  environ- 
ment at  the  end  of  this  chapter  discuss  in  detail  for 
those  interested  the  specific  effects  of  each  of  these 


Environment  and  Education  63 

environing  physical  elements.  In  a  general  way  we 
know  from  observation  the  influences  upon  life  of 
these  physical  agents  and  find  ourselves  sympathizing 
with  the  early  Greek  philosophers  who  said  earth,  air, 
fire,  and  water  were  the  four  elements  of  all  things. 

The  social  environment,  responsible  for  "  social  Social, 
heredity/*  influences  those  animals  actuated  by  the 
group  impulse,  including  man.  It  includes  all  forms 
of  association,  the  use  of  language,  the  expression  of 
the  emotions  in  the  crowd,  habits,  customs,  conven- 
tions, fads,  fashions,  and  moral  standards.  The 
greatest  element  in  the  social  environment  of  man, 
not  appearing  among  the  animals,  is  ideas,  public 
opinion.  Men  adjust  themselves  to  the  ideas  of 
other  men,  to  what  society  on  the  whole  approves. 
Public  opinion  is  the  main  reliance  of  social  progress. 
It  is  subject  to  rapid  change  with  correspondingly 
rapid  social  improvement.  Public  opinion  may  come 
to  condemn  the  methods  of  nature,  which  preserve 
the  race,  and  favor  the  methods  of  philanthropy, 
which  preserve  the  individual.  Its  scope  is  greatest 
in  a  democratic  form  of  government.  Education,  too, 
is  made  possible  by  the  social  environment ;  educat- 
ing, in  fact,  is  purposely  directing  social  heredity  for 
the  benefit  of  the  young.  John  Stuart  Mill  illustrates 
this  point  of  view  in  defining  education  as  "the 
culture  which  each  generation  purposely  gives  to 
those  who  are  to  be  its  successors,  in  order  to  qualify 
them  for  at  least  keeping  up,  and,  if  possible,  for  rais- 
ing, the  level  of  improvement  which  has  been 
attained. " 

It  is  possible  to  analyze  the  complex  social  environ- 


64  Idealism  in  Education 

ment  into  its  elements,  and  some  sociologists  have 
done  so.1  For  our  present  purpose  it  is  sufficient  to 
consider  the  social  environment  in  its  unity  as  con- 
trasting with  the  physical  environment 

a.  The  Gen-  Having  now  seen  the  nature  and  kinds  of  environ- 
on^vton0-05  ment>  we  must  next  inquire  concerning  its  influence, 
ment.  The  influence  of  environment  may  be  stated  in  the 

form  of  a  law,  which  is  one  of  the  fundamental  laws 
The  Law  in  biology,  viz.,  "  The  living  organism  must  be  adapted  , 
toits  environment."*  The  famous  definition  of  life 
given  by  Herbert  Spencer  conveys  the  same  idea: 
"  Life  is  the  continuous  adjustment  of  internal  rela- 
tions to  external  relations."  This  process  of  adapta- 
tion means  that  the  environment  modifies  the  organ- 
ism, that  the  organisni  in  turn  modifies  to  some  extent 
the  environment,  resulting  in  the  outcome  that  the 
organism  often  becomes  physically  and  socially  like 
its  environment 

The  Environ-  The  environment  modifies  the  organism  from  its 
Modifies  the  conception  till  its  death.  As  evolution  advances  the 
Organism.  organisms  become  more  differentiated,  in  order  to 
adjust  themselves  better  to  their  complex  environ- 
ment In  the  simplest  organism  all  the  cells  are 
alike;  they  are  homogeneous.  In  more  complex 
organisms;  the  cells  become  differentiated  from  each 
other  in  function,  the  outside  cells  serve  for  protection 
and  food  capture,  the  inside  cells  for  digestion ;  the 
cells  become  heterogeneous.  Yet  the  unity  of  the 
organism  is  not  impaired;  there  is  still  integration. 

1  Cf.,  for  example,  L.  F.  Ward,  "  Applied  Sociology,"  Boston,  1906. 
1  Sedgwick  and  Wilson,  "  Biology,"  p.  103  (italics  theirs). 


Environment  and  Education  65 

This  procedure  from  the  homogeneous  through  the 
differentiated  to  the  integrated  characterizes  all  or- 
ganic development  and  is  conditioned  by  the  multiform 
environment  in  adjustment  to  which  survival  becomes 
possible.  Specific  examples  of  the  modification  of  the 
organism  by  the  environment  may  be  given.  "  Slight 
changes  in  conditions,  such  as  turning  an  embyro  over, 
putting  it  in  a  new  medium,  subjecting  it  to  a  different 
temperature,  or  supplying  it  with  food  differing  in 
kind  and  amount  from  the  normal,  greatly  modify  its 
development." l  There  is  in  fact  just  one  life  through 
all  plants,  animals,  and  men ;  it  is  the  life  of  the  pri- 
mordial protoplasm,  the  life  of  the  cell ;  all  the  varieties 
of  individuals  and  species  of  all  living  things  have 
sprung  from  the  union  of  parental  cells  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  influences  of  environment  on  the  other. 

The   organism   modifies  its  environment,  as  when  The  Organ- 
a   plant  takes   in   carbon  dioxide  from   the  air  and  M™difiesthe 
gives  forth    oxygen,  as    when    a    crab    selects    its  Environ- 
home  and  digs  its  bed,  as  when  a  bird  constructs  its 
nest,  as  when  a  man  disfigures  the  face   of  nature 
with  factory  smoke.     These  things  again  anticipate 
the  part  the  individual  play$. 

As  a  part  of  the  process  of  adaptation,  the  environ-  The  Organ- 
ment  influencing  the  organism  and  the  organism  re-  ^^°mes 
influencing  the  environment,  it  eventuates  that  the  Environ- 
organism  becomes  physically  and  socially  like  its  envi- 
ronment.    This  result  is  particularly  obvious  among 
the  lower  animals.     The  birds  grow  feathers  similar 
in  color  to  their  natural  habitat ;  when  they  are  quiet, 
such  coloration   protects   them  from  their  enemies. 

1  Kirkpatrick,  "  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study,"  p.  294. 


66  Idealism  in  Education 

The  fur-bearing  animals  are  likewise  colored  similarly 
to  their  environment ;  some,  like  the  rabbits,  changing 
from  brown  to  white  and  from  white  to  brown  with 
the  coming  and  the  going  of  the  snow.  This  principle 
of  resemblance  in  appearance  to  the  native  environ- 
ment, which  serves  to  shield  the  creature  from  its 
preying  enemies,  is  known  in  biology  as  "  protective 
mimicry."  It  is  very  easy  to  overdo  this  principle  as 
an  explanation  ;  in  each  case  it  is  necessary  to  know 
that  the  organism  supposed  to  show  "  protective 
mimicry "  does  really  occur  in  the  environment  to 
which  it  is  similar,  that  its  enemy  is  really  deceived 
or  warned  by  its  appearance,  and  that  the  resem- 
blance is  actual,  having  been  brought  about,  not  by  co- 
incidence, but  by  the  elimination  of  the  creatures  not 
possessing  it.  .  Many  butterflies,  for  example,  when 
stationary  are  almost  indistinguishable  from  the 
flowers  or  leaves  about  them. 

Illustrations  of  the  law  of  environment  will  occur 
,  to  the  observant  upon  reflection.  The  roots  of  the 
plant  adjust  it  to  the  soil,  its  leaves  to  the  air. 
Through  the  mechanical  influence  of  heat,  plants 
turn  to  the  light  —  "  phototropism."  In  cold  climates, 
desert  regions,  places  of  scant  food,  and  high  altitudes, 
the  growth  is  stuntedT.  The  water  animal  has  gills 
and  the  land  animal  lungs.  Kansas  wheat  in  Cali- 
fornia loses  some  of  its  gluten.  Hot  and  cold  climates 
make  the  skin  of  man  dark  and  light  respectively. 
The  eye  of  man  is  adapted  to  ether  vibrations,  his 
ear  to  air  vibrations,  his  skin  is  sensitive  to  contact, 
pain,  pressure,  and  temperature,  etc.  Thus  the  struc- 
tures of  an  organism  are  usually,  not  always,  adapta- 


Environment  and  Education  67 

tions  to  environment ;  some  structures  are  survivals  of 
old  adaptations,  as  the  muscles  with  which  some  people 
can  move  the  ears.  The  very  fact  of  the  great  com- 
plexity of  environment  permits  life  to  be  more  multi- 
form, the  creatures  fitting  into  each  other's  waste 
places. 

It  is  thoroughly  natural  that  animals  should  end  TheExpiana- 
by  resembling  their  environment.  Those  that  varied 
conspicuously  from  their  environment  were  easily  de- 
tected by  their  enemies,  and  were  killed  off,  and  their 
posterity  with  them.  Those,  however,  that  by  for- 
tunate variation  more  closely  resembled  their  envi- 
ronment escaped  their  enemies,  and  their  favorable 
characteristics  were  transmitted  to  their  offspring. 
This  is  a  very  crude  and  simplified  form  of  stating 
the  method  by  which  resemblance  to  environment 
came  about  through  the  struggle  for  existence  and  the 
survival  of  the  fit,  the  so-called  principle  of  "  natural 
selection. "  Similarity  to  environment  is  one  condi- 
tion of  survival.  One  may  naturally  object  that  such 
an  explanation  is  only  relative  and  mechanical,  not 
absolute  and  teleological.  This  objection  will  receive 
consideration  in  the  final  chapter  of  our  discussion, 
where  the  philosophy  of  these  processes  described  by 
science  will  be  suggested. 

The  greatest  thing  that  environment  can  do  for  Environment 
any  organism  is  to  provide  it  opportunity.  The 
adaptations  to  environment  show  what  the  inherent 
capacities  were.  To  provide  opportunity  for  capacity 
isjthe  prime  function  of  environment.  What  a  soul 
once  born  most  needs  is  just  opportunity.  The 
grain  of  wheat  has  life  in  itself,  but  soil  and  sun- 


68  Idealism  in  Education 

shine,  the  dew  and  the  rain,  are  its  opportune  envi- 
ronment. So  the  soul  has  life  in  itself,  but  the  home 
and  school,  the  church  and  society,  are  its  opportu- 
nities. The  environment  must  invest  the  capital  that 
heredity  has  bestowed  ;  without  investment,  the  cap- 
ital cannot  grow;  without  the  capital,  investment  is 
impossible.  In  the  home  and  the  school  parents 
and  teachers  provide  those  opportunities  that  in- 
herited capacities  must  have  for  their  realization. 

3.  The  in-  Having  now  seen  the  general  influence  of  environ- 
UuTphysicai  ment*  we  must  next  inquire  concerning  the  specific 
Environ-  influences  of  the  physical  and  social  environment 

And  first  the  physical. 

CaiboutL*-  The  physical  environment  calls  out  the  latent 
"*•  heredity.  It  leads  to  the  development  of  inner  i 
qualities  through  use.  Thus  the  botanist  Nageli 
took  small  Alpine  plants  to  Munich ;  they  grew 
large;  their  descendants  taken  back  to  the  Alps 
grew  small  again.  If  the  descendants  had  rema 
large  in  the  Alps,  it  would  have  been  the  keeping  of 
a  developed  power  which  had  been  latent  rather  than 
the  inbreeding  of  a  new  power.  Two  people  with  the 
same  complex  heredity  (if  such  were  possible)  under 
different  environments  would  become  different,  be- 
cause different  inherent  elements  would  be  brought 
to  the  fore. 

L«ads  to  Reversely,  the  physical  environment  represses  cer- 

tein  functions  through  giving  them  no  opportunity 
to  act  Through  such  disuse  the  function  atrophies. 
The  horses  living  for  years  underground  in  the  dark 
Treadwell  mines  in  Alaska  go  blind.  Similarly,  the 


Environment  and  Education  69 

burrowing  mole  loses  his  sight,  and  the  unused  mus- 
cle shrinks  in  size. 

Thus  the  function  of  environment  is  rather  a  selec-  Selects,  not 
tive  than  a  productive  one.  Lamarck  assumed  that  Produces- 
the  influence  of  the  environment  was  capable  of 
changing  the  characters  of  the  organism,  thus  fitting 
them  to  their  life  conditions;  but  the  fact  seems 
rather  to  be  that  changes  in  physical  conditions  may 
vary  the  degree  of  the  quality,  but  not  the  quality 
itself.  The  environment  does  not  produce  qualities, 
but  provides  opportunity  for  qualities  to  show  them- 
selves. The  origin  of  an  organism  and  its  characters  is 
due  to  heredity ;  the  survival  of  an  organism,  the  promi- 
nence of  certain  qualities,  the  repression  of  others,  is 
due  to... environment.  Not  the  existence  of  plants  and 
animals,  but  theifwell-defined  distribution  over  land 
and  sea  is  due  to  environment.  True,  if  we  go  back 
far  enough,  we  find  the  very  appearance  of  cell-life 
conditioned  by  an  environment  that  permits  life  to 
survive.  The  following  passage  from  De  Vries  will 
illustrate  the  general  principle  that  environment  se- 
lects, but  does  not  produce,  as  applied  to  desert  plants. 
"  They  [desert  plants]  all  prefer  more  favorable  con- 
ditions to  those  which  are  given  them.  They  endure 
the  desert,  but  only  with  difficulty.  Their  life  is 
nearer  starvation  than  enjoyment.  They  are  multi- 
plying themselves  in  a  prodigious  manner,  not,  how- 
ever, from  luxuriance,  but  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  competition.  They  do  not  thrive,  nor  do  they 
unfold  their  full  stature  and  qualities  as  they  might 
under  better  conditions.  They  greatly  prefer  irri- 
gated grounds  or  the  moist  air  of  the  forest,  and 


Idealism  in  Education 


Exerts 
Pressure 
leading  to 
Selection. 


Effects  of 

Nutrition. 


only  here  display  their  real  nature.     Even  cacti  are    ' 
originally  forest   plants,  and   may  be   seen   stoutly 
growing  between  densely  thronging  shrubs.     Thus 
the  conviction  is  forced  upon  us,  that  desert  plants 
are  not,  as  a  rule,  the  product  of  aridity."1 

The  physical  environment  exerts  constant  pressure 
upon  living  organisms.  It  is  probably  true  that  a 
stable  equilibrium  between  organism  and  environ- 
ment is  never  attained.  Progress  is  through  antag-  i 
onism.  There  is  discorcfwith  the  environment. 
Severe  cold,  for  example,  kills  off  many  weak  ani- 
mals, others  it  drives  into  hibernation,  still  others 
into  growing  adequate  covering,  still  others  into  mi- 
gration, and  man  it  leads  to  the  exercise  of  Promethean 
genius  in  the  discovery  of  fire.  The  discord  with  the  | 
social  environment  is  also  a  potent  factor,  as  we  shall 
presently  see.  It  is  the  pressure  of  environment 
that  selects  the  most  fit. 

We  might  study  with  profit  the  specific  effects  of 
each  one  of  the  enumerated  elements  of  the  physical 
environment.  For  purposes  of  illustration,  take  the 
effects  of  nutrition.  Queen  bees  are  the  result  of 
much  feeding;  the  workers  are  underfed.  If  the 
embryos  are  richly  fed,  ninety  per  cent  of  frogs'  eggs 
may  develop  into  females.  Well-fed  and  healthy 
individuals  develop  the  most  potent  germ  cells.  Star- 
vation, disease,  and  hardship  during  the  prenatal 
period  will  affect  the  offspring.  Physical  strain  with 
poor  nourishment  of  the  young  means  puny  growth 
and  weak  maturity.  Anticipating  the  influence  of 
will,  many  people  have  found  by  experiment  that 

1  De  Vries,  "  Plant  Breeding,"  p.  350. 


Environment  and  Education  71 

Mr.  Horace  Fletcher  is  right  in  saying  human  effi- 
ciency is  improved  when  less  food  is  taken,  when  it  is 
better  chewed,  when  we  stop  with  the  satisfaction  of 
appetite,  and  when  the  "fear-thoughts"  are  elim- 
inated. 

Physical  environment  helps  to  explain  variation.  Helps  to  ex- 
One  source  of  variation,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  fact  variation, 
that  in  higher  forms  where  variation  is  greatest  it 
takes  two  parents  to  produce  one  offspring;  this  is 
heredity.  The  other  source  is  a  change  in  the  physi- 
cal conditions  about  the  organism.  This  leads  the 
organism  to  seek  to  survive  under  the  changed  con- 
ditions; this  leads  some  parts  of  the  organism  to 
function  more,  others  to  function  less ;  this  leads  to 
change  in  the  parts.  Thus  changes  in  the  depth  of 
water  have  affected  aquatic  animals  through  the 
changes  in  hydrostatic  pressure  and  the  amount  of 
light  received.  In  deepest  sea-water  the  fish  becomes 
tiny,  the  body  is  hard,  and  a  special  light  apparatus 
I  is  developed.  The  fresh-water  fish  differs  from  the 
salt-water  fish,  and  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  nine  times 
saltier  than  the  sea,  only  a  small  shrimp  survives. 
Darwin  says,  "  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  suspect  that 
the  most  frequent  cause  of  variability  may  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  male  and  female  reproductive  elements 
having  been  affected  prior  to  the  act  of  conception." 

The  full  understanding  of  man  involves  the  geo-  Geography 
graphical  relation.      In  a  truly  wonderful  way  the  and 
earth  permits  man  to  live.     The  configuration  of  its 
surface,  its  thin  layer  of  atmosphere,  like  a  ribbon  in 
universal  space,  its  seas  and  land,  its  soils  and  cli- 
mates, its  days  and  nights,  its  rhythmic  seasons,  just 


72  Idealism  in  Education 

allow  such  plants,  animals,  and  human  beings  as  we 
know  to  arise  and  flourish.  Small  wonder  that  some 
sociologists  have  made  the  leap  and  declared  that 
geography  makes  the  man.  Similarly  Mr.  Percival 
Lowell  describes  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
characteristics  of  the  hypothetical  dwellers  upon  Mars 
from  the  geography  of  that  planet  The  history  of 
Europe  is  indeed  divided  by  the  Alps ;  the  imagina- 
tion of  Greece  is  indeed  one  with  its  mountains,  sky, 
and  sea ;  the  commercial  success  of  America  is  indeed 
conditioned  by  its  navigable  rivers  and  its  rich  re- 
sources. But  the  geography  still  remains,  though 
"  the  glory  that  was  Greece  "  is  no  more.  It  is  correct 
to  say  that  geography  helps  to  make  the  man.  And 
the  teaching  of  history  demands  the  geographical 
setting.  The  passive  East  Indian  and  the  stirring 
European  came  from  the  same  Indo-European  stock; 
the  difference  can  hardly  be  explained  without  refer- 
ence to  the  enervating  climate  of  India.  The  use  of 
geography  in  explaining  racial  differences  appca 
the  following  quotation,  which  perhaps,  however,  does 
not  take  sufficient  account  of  heredity:  "The  con- 
trast between  the  narrow,  intense,  bigoted  Jews  of 
New  Testament  times,  and  the  fickle,  self-induh 
generous  Samaritans  is  explained  when  we  compare 
the  rocky,  unproductive,  sombre  hills  of  Judea  \vith 
the  open,  rolling,  richly  fruitful  fields  of  Samari 
In  explaining  national  characteristics,  account  must 
be  taken  of  the  social  environment  and  of  heredity  as 
well  as  of  physical  environment. 

*G  F.  Kent,  "The  Use  of  Geography  in  Religious  Instruction," 
in  "  Principles  of  Religious  Education/'  N.  Y.,  1901,  p.  218. 


Environment  and  Education  73 

When  we  contrast  the  action  of  nature  and  of  man,  4.  The  in- 
mteresting  results  appear.     "  Nature,"  says  Professor  fluence  of  the 

Metcalf,  "  is   socialistic,  not    individualistic,    in    the  ronment. 

processes  of  evolution." 1     This  means  nature    pre- 
serves the  type,  not  the  individual.       Man,  on    the  The  Physi- 
other  hand,  by  philanthropy,  works  for  the  individual   ™ 
rather  than  for  the  race,  though  the  newer    forms  of  ronment. 

Dhilanthropy,  such  as  inebriate  colonies,  contemplate 
the  race  as  well  as  the  individual.  It  is  also  true 

:hat  nature's  socialistic  methods,  preserving  the  strong 

:or  the  sake  of  the  race  at  the  expense  of  the  weak, 
make  individuals  selfish,  each  one  fighting  for  sur- 
vival; while  man's  individualistic  methods,  caring 

:or  the  unfit,  make  society  unselfish,  since  the  strong 
come  to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  weak.  The  general 

nfluence  of  the  physical  environment  is  to   cultivate 

ntense  selfishness  in  the  interest  of  a  strong  surviv- 

ng  race  ;  the  general  influence  of  the  social  environ- 
ment is  to  cultivate  sympathetic  unselfishness  in  the 

nterest  of  a  surviving  individual.  Nature  is  rough 
and  far-sighted;  man  is  tender  and  near-sighted. 
The  two  working  together  provide  that  antagonism 
(whose  finest  fruit  is  human  character. 

The  specific  influences  of  the  social  environment  The  General 
are  summed  up  in  the   comprehensive   terms,  com-  {^Social8  of 

Envi- 


74  Idealism  in  Education 

Competition.  Competition  is  struggle  between  the  individual  and 
the  social  environment.  It  is  one  of  the  laws  of  life. 
This  discord  with  the  social  environment  most  re- 
sembles the  pressure  of  the  physical  environment 
Among  plants  crowding  prevents  growth.  Among 
animals  and  men  there  is  rivalry  between  individuals 
to  secure  food,  to  possess  the  female,  to  win  success 
The  result  is  that  the  fighting  qualities  come  out,  the 
others  fall  back.  There  is  universal  war  in  the  anima 
kingdom.  Hobbes  thought  he  found  the  same  among 
primitive  societies  of  men.  In  gregarious  communities 
members  of  the  same  species  compete  with  each  other 
for  place  and  food.  The  progeny  of  one  pair  of  parents 
likewise  exhibit  instinctive  jealousy.  The  phenomena 
of  social  opposition  lead  to  the  development  of  greater 
individuality,  and  to  greater  achievement,  especially  in 
the  fields  of  investigation  and  invention.  Imagination 
and  competition  do  more  than  necessity  as  the  mother 
of  discoveries  and  inventions.  This  matter  of  com* 
petition  is  stimulated  by  the  environment,  but  it  is  also 
a  phenomenon  of  will  as  well.  It  is  to  be  noted  tha 
competition  is  between  members  of  the  same  species 
as  well  as  between  species. 

imitation.  Imitation  is  doing  as  another  does.     It  presupj 

the  presence  of  enough  consciousness  to  note  the 
action  of  others,  and  it  obviously  tends  to  bring  the 
individual  into  conformity  with  his  social  environ 
ment  To  imitate  is  instinctive,  the  presence  in  con 
sciousness  of  another's  deed  being  a  sufficient  stimulus 
to  start  the  imitative  reflex,  unless  there  is  inhibition 
somewhere.  Such  instinctive  imitation  goes  on  with 
out  intention,  as  when  we  drop  into  the  manners  of 


Environment  and  Education  75 

expression  of  a  new  community  without  realizing  it. 
There  may  be  also  intentional  imitation,  as  when  we 
consciously  follow  the  fashions  of  society  in  dress. 
We  are  comfortable  so  long  as  we  conform  to  the 
social  environment  constituted  by  our  group,  and  we 
become  uncomfortable  when  unlike  in  any  noticeable 
way  the  fashions  prevailing  in  our  set.  Imitation 
works  reciprocally,  society  influencing  the  individual, 
and  the  individual,  if  he  be  in  any  way  notable,  also 
influencing  society.  .  Imitation  also  works  with  both 
bad  and  good  models.  Plutarch  observes,  "  It  is  a 
true  proverb  that  if  you  live  with  a  lame  man  you 
will  learn  to  limp."  One  of  the  Hindu  wise  sayings 
is:  "What  man  is  there  whom  contact- with  a  great 
soul  will  not  exalt?  A  drop  of  water  upon  the  petal 
of  a  lotus  glistens  with  the  splendors. of  a  pearl." 
The  instinct  of  imitation  is  one  of  the  means  by 
which  the  influence -of  environment  brings  us  into 
conformity  with  itself. 

Suggestion  is  doing  as  another  says.  In  auto-sug-  Suggestion, 
gestion  the  individual  plays  both  roles.  Our  social 
environment  calls  upon  us  not  simply  to  imitate  its 
copies,  but  also  to  follow  out  its  ideas.  Ideas  have  an 
inherent  impulsive  power.  Were  there  but  one  idea 
in  consciousness,  we  should  invariably  act  upon  it,  as 
hypnotic  subjects  do.  The  presence  of  several  ideas 
in  consciousness  at  once  introduces  mutual  inhibitions. 
Suggestion  rightly  handled  is  a  powerful  influence  in 
shaping  character.  -  According  to  a  Bengali  proverb, 
"Blackness  leaves  the  coal  when  the  fire  enters." 
Would  you  create  the  reading  and  study  habit  among 
people  ?  Then  you  must  have  an  attractive  library, 


76  Idealism  in  Education 

both  in  exterior  appearance  and  in  interior  equipment, 
to  impress  the  idea.  Would  you  cultivate  the  better 
social  habits  among  men  ?  Then  you  must  have  an  at- 
tractive meeting-place,  with  the  amusements  that  inter- 
est without  degrading.  Would  you  develop  the  sense 
of  religious  reverence  among  young  people  ?  Then 
you  must  have  chapels  and  churches  whose  interior 
atmospheres  suggest  the  divine  presence.  And  so 
on  with  all  the  great  environing  institutions  of  man. 
Put  into  the  environment  of  the  young  what  you  want 
their  souls  to  incorporate,  and  the  laws  of  survival,  of 
imitation,  and  of  the  power  of  impression  will  effect 
such  incorporation. 

Crime  is  due  to  social,  quite  as  truly  as  to  physical, 
heredity.  In  the  case  of  the  Jukes  family  the  de- 
scendants were  isolated  from  a  proper  social  environ- 
ment, and  imitated  each  other.  The  children  of  one 
couple  that  moved  out  of  the  Jukes  influence  grew  up 
much  as  others.  "  The  records  of  charitable  soci 
show  that  about  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  children  of 
paupers  and  criminals  who  are  placed  in  good  homes 
at  an  early  age  become  good  citizens."1  We  are  a 
part  of  the  good  as  well  as  of  the  bad  we  meet 
Thomson  asks,  "Are  we  not  apt  to  underrate  the 
plasticity  of  human  nature  and  the  ready  repressibil- 
ity  of  hereditary  items  ?  "2  The  unclean  environment 
can  hardly  produce  the  clean  thing.  Evil  compan- 
ionships corrupt  good  manners,  and  good  companion- 
ships shame  ill  manners.  The  laws  of  environment 
hold,  independent  of  the  moral  quality. 

1  Kirkpmtrick,  M  FundamenUli  of  ChUd  Study,"  p.  299. 
•Thomson,  -  Heredity,"  p.  531. 


Environment  and  Education  77 

/The  influence  of  the  social  environment  is  con-  instruction, 
sciously  brought  to  bear  in  instruction.  By  instruc- 
tion the  lessons  of  the  past  are  orally  transmitted; 
by  instruction  new  ideas  are  disengaged  in  society ; 
by  instruction  elders  and  teachers  definitely  plan  to 
bring  the  young  generation  into  conformity  with 
their  social  and  spiritual  environment.  The  advan- 
tages of  instruction  over  the  other  social  influences 
are  that  it  is  consciously  directed  and  so  may  be 
systematically  given  with  a  view  to  reaching  any 
chosen  end.  A  large  element  of  educational  work 
is  just  this  systematic  and  well-planned  instruction, 
and  the  whole  of  education  is  a  combination  of  such 
conscious  tuition  with  the  unconscious  influences  of 
association  The  whole  of  the  social  environment, 
by  assimilating  us  to  itself,  educates  us  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  term. 

The  surpassing  influence  of  the  home  is  justly  Social  En- 
celebrated.  The  reason  that  the  home  is  so  influ- 
ential  is  that  in  it  social  heredity  reenforces  physical 
heredity,  each  of  them  being  tremendous  forces. 
The  very  things  that  the  parents  have  put  into  the 
blood  of  the  child  they  themselves  also  are  by 
example  and  instruction,  as  a  rule.  A  child  born 
of  artistic  parents  grows  up  also  in  an  artistic 
environment.  A  child  born  of  stupid  parents  grows 
up  also  in  an  unstimulating  environment.  The 
natural  respect  of  children  for  parents  leads  even 
the  wrong  deeds  of  parents  to  appear  right  to  the 
children.  As  are  the  parents  so  do  the  children  tend 
to  become,  in  language,  dress,  manners,  and  morals. 
Language  is  not  a  birthright  but  an  acquisition;  it 


78  Idealism  in  Education 

comes  from  imitating  the  sounds  we  hear.  There 
was  a  Chinese  student  in  the  University  of  California 
who  was  born  of  Americanized  Chinese  parents,  and 
did  not  know  the  Chinese  language.  He  decided 
to  study  Chinese,  and  seemed  to  find  as  much  diffi- 
culty in  learning  it  as  did  the  American  students. 
A  sparrow  raised  with  canaries  will  approximate 
their  song.  Dress  is  wholly  conventional,  passed 
on  by  imitation  or  "  social  heredity,"  and  varying 
with  stocks  and  climes.  The  manners  of  the  child 
are  those  borrowed  from  or  taught  by  the  parents. 
And  the  morals  likewise.  How  hardly  shall  the 
school  improve  upon  the  standards  of  the  home! 
In  the  home  both  heredity  and  environment  centre ; 
it  all  but  makes  the  man. 

But  the  same  forces  of  survival,  imitation,  and 
suggestion  are  at  work  in  the  school,  tending  to 
bring  the  pupils  into  conformity  with  the  environ- 
mental standards.  Pupils  can  remain  in  the  school 
society  only  on  condition  of  conforming  to  its  stand- 
ards. Teachers  supply  the  constant  models  for 
imitation.  And  the  school  atmosphere  is  ever  sug- 
gesting indifferent  or  uplifting  ideas  to  the  susceptible 
spirit  of  youth. 

Similarly  the  social  standards  of  the  community  at 
large  influence  the  young  generation.  The  example 
of  a  single  person  is  multiplied  many  times  in  a 
community ;  thus  community  standards  are  far  more 
compelling  in  influence  than  individual  standards. 
Such  emotions  as  patriotism,  respect  for  the  aged, 
love  of  pleasure,  of  social  prominence,  or  of  service, 
are  reflections  in  individuals  of  the  standards  of  the 


Environment  and  Education  79 

social  environment.  G.  Lowes  Dickinson  says  in 
America  we  are  educating  our  children  intellectually 
while  all  the  time  they  are  growing  up  in  unaesthetic 
surroundings.  And  these  surroundings  in  which  we 
live  are  all  the  while  influencing  us  unconsciously. 
The  atmosphere  of  material  success  also  characterizes 
us  as  Americans,  and  our  children  grow  like  that 
they  feed  on. 

He  is   the  rare  man,  even   the  genius,  who  can  5.  Personal 
proyide^his   own  opportunities,  who_can   select   or  ^"^sociai 
make  his  own  environment,  who   can  do   for   him-  Environ- 
self   what   nature   and   society   do  for  others.     The  me>n ' 
genius  may  rise  above  his  environment,  but,  even  so,  The  Genius, 
the  law  of  conformity  in  order  to  survive  is  still  at 
work,  and  he  does  so  at  the  risk  of  envy  from  his 
fellows  or  even  at  the  peril  of  his  life.     Socrates  rose 
above  the  moral  standards  of  Athens,  and  the  patient 
Athenians,  after  enduring  his  ethical  criticisms  for  a 
generation,   finally   caused   him   to   drink  the    fatal 
hemlock.     Jesus  rose  above  the  religious  standards 
of  his  environment  in  Jerusalem,  and  those  high  in 
authority,    unable  to   accept   in   their  sacerdotalism 
the  simplicity  of  his  hill  side  gospel,  caused  him  to 
be  nailed  to  the  cross.     Bruno  rose  above  the  scien- 
tific standards  of  his  environment,  and  the  powerful 
church,  unable  to  admit  the  discovery  of  any  truth 
beyond  its  revealed  and  transmitted  doctrines,  caused 
him  to  be  burned  alive.     Every  other  martyr,  too,  in 
the  world's  progress  illustrates  the  action  of  the  same 
law,  that  to  survive  in  comfort  we  must  conform  to  the 
standards  of  our  environment.    To  conform  is  to  follow 


8o  Idealism  in  Education 

the  line  of  least  resistance,  and  is  safe ;  to  rise  above  is 
to  invite  opposition,  and,  at  the  worst,  martyrdom. 

The  Outcast.  The  law  operates  also  on  the  lower  as  well  as  on 
the  higher  level.  Those  who  rise  above  their  environ- 
ment are  geniuses,  and  may  become  martyrs.  Those 
who  sink  below  their  environment  are  the  social  out- 
casts. Our  reformatories  and  jails  exist  for  those 
who  refuse  to  conform  to  environment  on  the  lower  side. 
These  institutions  are  filled  with  inmates  who  would 
rank  with  the  best  in  more  primitive  types  of  society. 
The  criminal  is  the  man  with  the  standards  of  the  sav- 
age in  the  company  of  the  civilized.  In  the  home 
the  refusal  to  conform  to  its  standards  is  followed  by 
punishment ;  in  the  school  such  refusal  is  visited  by 
punishment,  or,  in  extremis,  by  separation  from  the 
school  body ;  in  society  such  refusal  in  the  lighter 
cases  brands  one  as  odd,  eccentric,  of  a  lower  social 
clique  or  caste,  and  hi  the  extreme  cases  as  an  unde- 
sirable member  of  a  free  society. 

The  Avenge  However  it  may  be  with  the  genius  in  providing 
his  own  environment  for  himself,  perhaps  even  a 
future  ideal  one,  the  most  of  us  will  limit  ourselves  to 
that  opportunity  which  our  environment  brings  with 
it.  By  giving  our  capacities  a  chance,  by  setting 
bounds  to  the  field  of  our  endeavor,  environment  con- 
tributes its  quota  to  man-making.  The  average  per- 
son conforms  to  the  prevailing  standards  of  the  social 
environment  in  which  he  moves. 

6.  The  Prao-       But  ought  he  to  conform  ?     With  this  question  we 
rmgl  enter  the  field  of  the  practical  bearings  of  this  thco- 
l)is.uv,;un.      rctical  discussion  of  environment. 


Environment  and  Education  81 

The  answer  is  not  easy.  He  must  follow  his  moral  Our  Duty  to 
sense ;  in  cases  where  the  moral  sense  is  not  quick 
for  any  reason,  the  person  will  be  content  to  conform ; 
where  it  is  quick  enough  to  rebel  at  existing  practices 
and  to  demand  something  better,  a  true  man  will  not 
conform.  The  operation  of  the  law  of  conformity  to 
the  customary  standards  of  the  environment  in  order 
to  survive  comfortably  does  not  militate  against  the 
duty  of  every  man  to  rise  above  those  standards  when 
he  feels  they  are  wrong.  Our  duty  to  environment 
is  to  follow  it  in  so  far  as  it  is  right,  and  to  rise  above 
it  and  seek  in  patient  tolerance  to  change  it  when  it 
is  wrong.  The  only  light  to  guide  us  in  thus  adjust- 
ing ourselves  to  the  environment  or  in  readjusting 
the  environment  to  our  higher  selves  is  the  personal 
moral  sense.  As  Martin  Luther  said,  in  one  of  the 
emancipating  moments  of  human  history,  refusing  to 
conform,  "  It  is  neither  safe  nor  advisable  to  do  any- 
thing against  conscience."  The  Jesuits,  who  organized 
to  defend  the  existing  order  against  encroachments, 
saw  the  issue  clearly  enough  when  they  agreed  to 
subject  even  conscience  to  the  will  of  the  superior,  in 
the  words  :  "  There  can  be  rio  obligation  to  sinful  acts 
of  greater  or  less  importance,  except  when  enjoined 
by  the  superior  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ."  The 
assertion  of  individuality  can  go  no  higher  than  Luther, 
the  subjection  of  individuality  no  lower  than  the 
Jesuits.  That  the  Jesuit  order  came  to  be  dissolved 
by  the  papal  power  that  had  first  sanctioned  it  is 
the  dialectic  of  history  against  the  subjection  of  an 
enlightened  conscience.  Social  progress,  morally 
viewed,  consists  in  following  the  liberator  of  con- 


82  Idealism  in  Education 

science,  whether  he  revise  an  old  practice  or  establish 
a  new  one  ;  it  consists  in  becoming,  if  need  be,  such 
a  leader  one's  self.  If  one's  cause  be  great  enough,  to 
do  so  may  mean  martyrdom  in  politics  or  religion,  but 
the  stone  that  the  builders  of  one  generation  reject  is 
likely  to  become  the  head  of  the  corner  in  the  next. 
The  fathers  stone  the  prophets,  and  the  children  erect 
expiating  monuments.  This  is  as  true  of  Bruno  as 
of  Servetus. 

The  Prob-  The  problem  of  handling  environment  aright  in  the 
Handiin  En-  ma^nS  °'  greater  men  and  women  is  simple  in  theory 
*m.  but  difficult  in  practice.  The  problem  is  to  equip  the 
environment  of  the  young  aright.  You  must  put  into 
|  tHe^  environment  what  you  want  in  the  child.  The 
environment  must  be  equipped  to  give  health  to  the 
body,  truth  to  the  intellect,  beauty  to  the  feelings,  good- 
ness to  the  will,  and  God  to  the  whole  man ;  and  this 
in  home,  school,  and  community  alike.  The  ultimate 
of  wisdom  in  the  matter  of  environment  is,  as  1 
ident  King  says,  "Stay  persistently  in  the  presence  of 
the  best,"  or,  as  Professor  Thomson  suggests,  provide 
eutopias  in  which  to  live.  So  to  do  is  to  fall  in  with 
the  currents  that  bear  the  soul  upward ;  to  do  other- 
wise is  to  sink  by  the  action  of  the  same  laws  of  en 
vironment.  All  the  social  workers  know  how  a  good 
heredity  avails  little  in  a  bad  environment,  and  h 
bad  heredity  lies  dormant  in  a  good  environment. 
Jacob  Riis  estimates  environment  at  nths.  It 

is  enough  for  us  at  present  to  recognize  that  environ- 
ment is  one  of  the  indispensable  elements  in  m:m- 
making,  and  that,  in  contrast  with  heredity,  environ- 
ment serves  the  individual  as  heredity  serves  tfie  race. 


Environment  and  Education  83 

It  is  always  better  in  building  character  to  empha-  Menaces  to 
size  the  good  rather  than  the  bad,  and  to  overcome 
the  bad  with  the  good.  But  it  is  also  necessary  to 
see  the  bad  and  understand  it  in  order  to  fight  it.  It 
helps  us  to  define  our  problem  of  handling  the  envi- 
ronment when  we  realize  the  evils  in  the  environment. 
The  Americans  are  becoming  self-critical ;  this  stage 
had  to  come  in  the  development  of  a  free  people;  it 
is  one  of  the  conditions  of  further  progress  in  self- 
development.  Some  of  the  many  evils  that  infest 
American  society,  or  dangers  that  become  evils  when 
not  avoided,  about  which  the  social  reformers  are  talk- 
ing, are  :  the  rapid  increase  of  wealth,  the  fast  pace, 
the  indulgence  in  display,  the  urbanizatign^  of ^popula- 
tion,— only  about  half  the  people  still  living  in  the  coun- 
try, —  the  growth  of  special  privilege,  the  readiness 
to  enact,  coupled  with  the  unreadiness  to  enforce,  laws; 
mob-violence ;  a  growing  reliance  upon  militarism ; 
the  use  of  a  public  trust  as  a  source  of  private  gain, 
—  "  graft "  ;  the  divorce  evil,  one  marriage  in  ten  now 
being  later  annulled ;  the  social  evil,  it  being  estimated 
now  that  half  a  million  women  in  fhe  country  are  vic- 
tims of  this  vice  of  man  ;  child-labor ;  alcoholism ;  tu- 
berculosis ;  gambling ;  the  waste  of  natural  resources, 
and  other  similar  things.  The  array  is  long  enough 
and  alarming  enough.  Some  of  these  dangers  to  the 
state  have  belonged  to  every  age  of  man,  others  are 
natural  but  not  necessary  in  the  development  of  a  new 
country.  The  situation  is  far  from  hopeless,  but  both 
intelligence  and  skill  on  the  part  of  many  people  will  be  \1 
necessary  to  control  the  environment  aright  in  the  inter-  \ 
est  of  present  and  future  manhood  and  womanhood. 


Idealism  in  Education 


Suggestions 
toward  COD- 
trolling  En- 


Many 

Stimuli. 


It  will  not  be  possible  for  us  to  consider  in  much  de- 
tail either  the  specific  evils  in  the  American  environ- 
ment or  their  respective  remedies.  But  in  a'  general 
way  we  must  indicate  how  education  may  contribute 
its  part  toward  improving  and  controlling  the  situa- 
tion. 

(i)  Utilize  many  stimuli.     As  teachers  and  parents 
we  do  not  know  what  all  the  inherited  capacities  are.  i 
Bring  them  out  by  using  many  stimuli.     Change  the 
stimuli  from  one  set  to  another.     The  interests  of  chil- 
dren as  they  arise  should  be  given  free  play  to  develop 
until  they  are  exhausted ;  they  may  in  succession  be 
such  discrepant  things  as  playing  at  nursing  or  running 
a  menagerie.     These  appetites  of  the  soul  feed  uponj 
little,  are  quickly  satisfied,  and  leave  the  soul  some-  J 
what  more  developed  than  before.     A  given  home, 
school,  and  community  will  afford  many  sources  of  such 
interests  to  children  if  a  little  freedom,  encourage*] 
ment,  and  help  are  provided.     When  it  is  evident  that 
a  given  environment  is  exhausted  in  its  resources  to 
stimulate  the  child's  growth,  it  is  necessary  to  change 
the  environment,  to  go  on  a  visit,  to  travel,  to  attend 
another  school,  even  to  move  elsewhere.     A  change] 
of  environment  is  stimulating  in  itself,  and  in  unex- 
pected ways,  as  grown  people  also  find  as  they  seek] 
to  keep  their  reactions  fresh.     It  is  particularly  <1 
able  that  such  contrasts  as  the  city  and  the  country, 
the  mountains  and  the  sea,  should  divide  the  time  of 
growing  souls.     Perhaps  at  some  unexpected  moment 
some  unanticipated  stimulus  out  of  the   many  the  \ 
changing  environment  yields  will  discover  to  the  soul 
its  real  bent ;  meanwhile  all  the  other  temporary  in- 


Environment  and  Education  85 

terests  will  have  enlarged  the  powers  of  appreciation ; 
the  many  stimuli  will  have  helped  the  soul  become 
what  its  inherited  nature  allows. 

(2)  Associate  with  Nature.  This  is  a  true  principle  Nature 
of  human  development,  because  the  physical  environ-  Associatlons- 
ment  so  influences  man.  Those  persons  who  have 
made  Nature  an  associate,  like  Wordsworth,  Bryant, 
Emerson,  and  Thoreau,  have  had  their  personal  re- 
ward, and  have  also  been  enabled  to  transmit  mes- 
sages to  their  fellows.1  The  souls  that  assimilate  the 
teachings  of  Nature  become  like  their  teacher  in  a 
character  that  is  constant,  firm,  true,  consistent,  law- 
ful, quieting,  and  vast.  The  growth  of  city  life,  the 
urgent  demands  of  business,  and  the  spoliation  of 
the  forests,  as  well  as  the  legitimate  clearings  of  a 
spreading  population,  have  rendered  Nature  well-nigh 
a  stranger  to  many  whose  ancestors  were,  once  her 
denizens.  For  the  sake  of  the  economic  future,  and 
especially  for  the  sake  of  the  spiritual  present  and 
future  of  man,  it  is  essential  that  the  face  of  Nature 
be  preserved,  in  certain  places  at  least,  in  its  original 
aspect.  But  further,  by  reformation  in  elementary 
education  in  rural  districts,  the  people  must  be  edu- 
cated for  the  country,  instead  of,  as  hitherto,  for  the 
town.  The  increasing  attractiveness  of  farm  and 
country  life  is  a  welcome  sign  in  our  generation. 
Through  the  use  of  science  it  is  to  be  anticipated 
that  the  profit  as  well  as  the  pleasure  of  farming  will 
be  enhanced.  Meanwhile  it  is  desirable  that  the  city 
dwellers  go  to  the  country  for  outings  and  refresh- 

1  Cf.  MacCunn,  «  The  Making  of  Character,"  Pt.  II,  Chap.  Ill,  N.  Y., 
1907. 


86  Idealism  in  Education 

ment,  and  that  some  of  the  country  be  imported  to  the 
city  in  the  form  of  parks,  playgrounds,  and  school 
gardens.  We  have  not  yet  realized  in  the  West  the 
Oriental  benefits  of  living  and  teaching  in  the  open, 
especially  as  an  aid  to  the  quieter  mental  virtues  of 
contemplation,  meditation,  and  reflection;  our  relig- 
ious worship  has  particularly  suffered  thereby,  be- 
coming both  narrow  and  artificial.  It  takes  more 
time  to  feel  the  inspiration  of  Nature  than  most  busy 
Americans  think  they  have  to  give,  but  it  remains 
true  that  few  things  so  balance  artificial  lives  as  mak- 
ing  friends  with  Nature. 
Personal  (3)  Associate  with  the  best  persons.  And  this 

because  of  the  influence  of  the  social  environment  j 
in  man-making.  Persons,  after  all,  are  the  clearest ! 
revelations  of  the  meanings  of  existence.  These  mean*  i 
ings  are  many,  according  to  the  way  in  which  life  is 
taken.  The  best  persons  help  us  to  take  life  in  the 
right  way.  We  should  find  the  great  persons,  living 
and  dead,  in  science,  literature,  history,  and  religion, 
and  learn  their  secrets.  Young  people  in  college  are 
often  told  and  easily  come  to  think  that  they  learn 
most  of  later  value  in  associating  with  each  other; 
that  they  learn  much  is  unquestionable;  but  they 
must  also  know  that  their  present  circle  is  both  small 
and  immature  in  comparison  with  what  the  world  has 
produced  of  persons  accessible  to  them  by  reading. 
That  benefits  should  ensue  from  one's  personal  asso- 
ciations, it  is  necessary  that  one  himself  be  something. 
As  the  Hindu  wisdom  has  it,  "Though  he  roam  to 
sacred  Concan,  no  dog  will  turn  into  a  lion ;  going  to 
holy  Benares  will  make  no  pig  an  elephant ;  and  no 


Environment  and  Education  87 

pilgrimage  will  make  a  saint  of  one  whose  nature  is 
different."  This  involves  the  third  element  in  man- 
making,  that  of  the  individual  himself.  That  asso- 
ciations with  great  personalities  be  beneficial,  one 
must  himself  have  some  greatness  in  him,  some  un- 
derstanding, and  some  responsiveness.  But  given 
these,  the  great  associate  reveals  in  reality  what  we 
ourselves  may  in  a  measure  become. 

(4)  Emphasize  the  cooperative  rather  than  the  Cooperation 
competitive  methods  of  teaching.  Nature  is  compet-  competition. 
itive.  Our  whole  industrial  system  is  founded  on 
competition  rather  than  on  cooperation,  whence  arise 
many  of  the  gravest  problems  of  an  industrial  de- 
mocracy. The  old  teaching  used  the  methods  of 
competition,  emulation,  and  rivalry.  The  spirit  of 
Christianity,  that  of  helping  rather  than  hindering 
one's  fellows,  has  not  permeated  the  mass  of  society. 
The  existing  industrial  monopolies  which  stifle  com- 
petition are  the  product  of  the  competitive  system, 
the  weaker  competitors  having  been  eliminated  in  the 
struggle.  Industrial  society  has  fairly  well  imitated 
the  methods  of  survival  characteristic  of  nature. 
Herbert  Spencer,  with  all  his  study  of  altruism,  re- 
mained an  individualist  always ;  competition  was  his 
fundamental  principle;  originality  in  his  writings 
was  such  a  hobby  that  he  was  unwilling  to  appear 
as  having  ever  borrowed  anything.  Competition  has 
indeed  its  place,  as  we  saw  in  studying  the  influences 
jof  the  social  environment,  but  the  individuality  and 
jselfishness  it  breeds  must  be  supplemented  by  the 
jbreeding  in  some  way  of  sociality  and  unselfishness. 
The  schools  can  help  by  training  pupils  in  the 


88  Idealism  in  Education 

methods^ of  cooperation.  The  next  generation  can 
solve  the  problems  of  the  social  democracy  somewhat 
easier  if  this  generation  trains  the  young  to  work  with 
each  other  instead  of  against  each  other.  Social  edu- 
cation fits  for  social  living.1  School  tasks  may  prop- 
erly be  assigned  to  groups  of  pupils,  each  one  doing 
his  part.  Athletic  teams  subject  the  action  of  the 
individual  to  the  good  of  the  whole.  Older  pupils 
should  help  younger  ones,  and  the  strong  should 
assist  the  weak.  The  school  should  be  a  miniature 
cooperative  society,  typifying  the  coming  ideal  hu- 
man society. 

(5)  Be  one  alone,  if  necessary,  to  initiate  a  needed 
spcial  reform.  Like  other  people,  social  reformers 
are  partly  born  and  partly  made.  They  need  sanity, 
tact,  patience,  and  wisdom.  Individual  initiative  has 
wrought  the  greatest  moral  reforms  of  the  world  ;  in 
many  instances  the  forward  movement  has  taken  the 
name  of  its  initiator,  Confucius,  Buddha,  Socrates, 
Christ,  Mohammed.  These  men  had  vision  ami 
energy,  the  imaginative  vision  to  see  things  as  they 
ought  to  be  and  the  practical  energy  to  set  about 
their  accomplishment.  In  our  own  day  the  examples! 
of  such  social  workers  as  Jane  Addams  and  Jacob  Riis 
have  stimulated  many  to  help  them.  When  history 
writes  its  chapter  on  Roosevelt,  though  it  may  dis- 
credit him  for  fastening  the  ideas  of  strenuosity  and 
militarism  upon  America,  it  will  surely  credit  him  for 
introducing  the  standards  of  morality  into  political 
life.  Many  vacillators  have  at  the  thought  of  him 
stood  upright  Every  reader  of  the  public  prints  is 

1  CC  Scott,  "  Social  Education,11  Boston,  1908. 


Environment  and  Education  89 

aware  of  the  mighty  contemporary  turmoil  in  our 
social  life;  one  investigation  of  dishonesty  follows 
another  in  continuous  succession ;  political  reputa- 
tions years  in  building  are  unmade  in  a  day ;  and  the 
people  reward  their  courageous  moral  leaders  with 
the  best  offices  of  the  land.  It  all  signifies,  not  that 
we  have  fallen  on  evil  days,  but  that  we  see  the  bet- 
ter days  that  ought  to  be;  the  public  conscience  is 
awakened;  the  purpose  of  social  existence  is  being 
realized,  viz.,  the  establishment  of  a  moral  order 
among  men.  It  is  incumbent  upon  every  individual 
to  cultivate  morality  in  his  own  garden,  however 
small  it  may  be,  that  the  environment  which  moulds 
man  into  its  own  likeness  may  be  improved. 

(6)  Make_the  ^chooLan  .ideal  physical  and  social  The  School 
environment.  On  the  physical  side  the  school-build-  J^10* 
ing  should  be  of  good  architecture,  of  some  solid  ma- 
terial, in  an  attractive  location,  with  well-kept  grounds, 
with  class-rooms  well  lighted,  ventilated,  and  comfort- 
ably furnished,  with  walls  appropriately  decorated, 
with_each  room  suggesting  the  topic  discussed  there, 
with  texts  aesthetic  in  printing,  illustrations,  binding, 
and  color,  with  a  well-equipped  gymnasium,  and  scru- 
pulously kept  sanitary  arrangements.  The  school 
should  be  the  most  attractive  place  in  town,  the  demo- 
cratic unifying  agent  of  the  community,  the  centre  for 
social  gatherings  and  improvement  societies.  As  for 
the  social  environment  provided  by  the  school,  it  rests 
mainly  with  the  teachfcrs.  They  should  make  of  them- 
selves as  admirable  persons  as  they  can  for  the  sake 
of  their  pupils  and  their  own  self-respect.  Patrons 
expect  the  teachers  of  their  children  to  be  models ; 


90  Idealism  in  Education 

unfortunately  they  are  sometimes  disappointed.     The 
corps  of  teachers  of  any  community,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
is  a  fair  reflection  of  the  standards  of  the  community  ; 
it  ought  to  be  somewhat  higher;  teachers  should  be 
active  uplifting  social  forces  in  the  community.     The 
atmosphere  of  a  school  is  constituted  by  its  geiu  i  al 
personnel ;  it  is  the  most  pervasive  of  all  the  school 
forces;   it  is  something  that  a  visitor  quickly  feels, 
something  that  constantly  shapes  the  lives  of  the  pupils. 
This  atmosphere  should  be  sane,  wholesome,  idealistic, 
in  which  money  shrinks  from  end  to  means,  in  which 
spiritual  values  are  the  end  of  living,  in  which  fictitious] 
social  distinctions  have  no  place,  in  which  the  single] 
standard  of  social  morality  is  taught  and  practised,  in 
which   the  adolescent  instinct  of   chivalry   is  truly 
directed,  in  which  vital  economy,  the  truest  economy; 
of  all,  preserves  from  destructive  personal  habit 
which  the  virtue  of  thrift  and  financial  independence] 
is  inculcated,  in  which  interests  of  the  deeper  and  truer 
sort  exclude  all  forms  of  low  and  vulgar  amusement, 
in  which  the  preservation  of  the  body  undefiled  by 
disease  or  impurity  4s  second  only  to  the  zealous 
guarding  of  white  souls,  in  which  all  together,  children,] 
young  men,  and  maidens  become  what  future  members 
of  society  ought  to  be.    The  school,  though  it  takes  a] 
generation  for  its  results  to  show,  is  one  of  the  main 
agents  of  social  redemption.     Victories  of  the  battle- 
field have  been  credited  to  the  school ;  it  will  be  a 
greater  day  when  the  victories  of  social  peace  may  be 
so  credited. 

Out  of  many  evils  in  the  American  life  enumerated 
above,  let  us  select  for  specific   mention   only   one, 


Environment  and  Education  91 

which  the  school  may  do  much  to  combat.  Tubercu-  Tuberculosis 
losis  is  the  great  white  scourge  of  humanity ;  yet  it  school! 
is  due  to  environment  rather  than  to  heredity  ;  and  it 
is  both  preventable  and  curable.  A  commission 
recently  appointed  to  report  to  the  Boston  School 
Committee  on  conditions  among  the  school  children 
estimated  the  total  number  affected  at  the  present 
time  at  five  thousand.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  distribute 
among  school  children  for  themselves  and  their  par- 
ents .circulars  describing  how  tuberculosis  ,  may  be 
prevented,  may  be  cured,  and,  when  present,  may  be 
kept  from  spreading.  From  one  such,  prepared  by 
the  associated  charities  of  Oakland,  I  quote  the  benef- 
icent information  that  "  a  careful  and  clean  consump- 
tive is  dangerous  neither  to  himself  nor  to  others." 
Tuberculosis  has  proved  so  dreadful  because  it  was 
so  dreaded.  Best  of  all,  school  buildings  and  children 
should  be  handled  so  as  to  reduce  the  possibilities  of 
infection  to  a  minimum,  through  equable  temperature 
not  above  68°,  through  abundant  fresh  air,  through  the 
reduction  of  dust  to  a  minimum,  through  the  more 
thorough  cleaning  of  schoolrooms,  and  especially 
through  the  out-of-door  school.  This  is  one  illustration 
of  how  the  school  may  be  the  ally  of  medical  and  social 
prophylaxis.  In  similar  ways,  by  enlarging  its  mission 
to  society,  the  school  can  contribute  its  part  to  the 
solution  of  all  the  social  problems,  especially  the  re- 
lated problems  of  the  divorce  and  social  evils.  After 
!  all,  just  as  "  guilt  is  personal/'  so  social  problems  must 
i  be  solved  ultimately  only  in  individual  terms:  And 
j  the  school  has  the  individuals  in  their  plastic  period. 
Thus  we  have  tried  to  trace  the  influences  upon 


92  Idealism  in  Education 

The  Second    men  and  women  of  their  environment,  both  physical 
anc*  s00^!,  and  have  also  tried  to  see  the  practical 


bearings  of  the  discussion  on  education.  Perhaps 
the  reader  carries  the  conviction  that  environment 
deserves  to  rank  as  one  of  the  fundamental  ele- 
ments in  man-making,  and  that  consequently  to 
improve  man  we  must  improve  his  environment. 
Heredity  bestows  capacities ;  environment  affords 
opportunities.  If  then  the  first  of  the  first  principles 
of  man-making  is  eugenics,  the  second  is  eutopias : 
put  into  the  environment  wliat  you  want  in  the  man, 

7.TheAboM  Though  appreciating  the  greatness  of  the  influence 
of  environment,  though  realizing  that  not  even  hered- 
ity would  be  possible  without  the  body  that  environs 
the  gametes,  still  it  is  possible  to  abuse  this  law.  We 
do  tend  to  become  adapted  to  our  environment,  but 
we  abuse,  by  exaggerating,  this  law  when  we  say  that 
men  are  made,  that  they  are  creatures  of  circum- 
stance, that  they  are  the  products  of  environment, 
that  they  are  like  pieces  of  bark  floating  upon  the 
surface  of  the  current  of  social  influence,  that  no 
man  can  be  better  than  his  environment.  Job  abused 
this  law  when  he  asked,  "Can  a  clean  thing  c<>me 
out  of  an  unclean  ? "  Nathanael  abused  this  law 
when  he  asked,  "  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of 
Nazareth?"  The  record  of  any  school  or  college  a 
hundred  years  old  will  show  that  its  later  environ- 
ment was  better,  but  that  its  earlier,  poorer  environ- 
ment also  produced  some  of  its  greatest  alumni. 
Those  who  suppose  a  man  can  be  no  worse  than 
his  social  environment  should  study  the  character 


Environment  and  Education  93 

of  Judas,  and  those  who  suppose  a  soul  can  be  no 
better  than  its  social  environment  may  remember 
Jesus.  In  our  consideration  above  of  the  relation  of 
geography  to  man  we  saw  that  the  physical  envi- 
ronment alone  was  not  able  to  explain  man  and  his 
history.  It  is  very  evident  to  reflection  that  there 
could  be  no  progress  whatsoever  in  humanity,  not  even 
any  evolution  of  species,  unless  here  and  there  indi- 
viduals rose  above  the  prevailing  standards,  were 
followed  by  others,  and  perpetuated  their  strain. 
The  environment  is  a  condition  of  man's  being  made ; 
it  does  not  alone  make  him.  In  a  true  sense  any 
great  soul  is  superior  to  any  event  that  can  happen 
to  it. 

That  the  individual  counts  for  something  in  relation 
to  his  environment  is  very  deftly  illustrated  by  Plato 
as  follows :  "  Themistocles  answered  the  Seriphian 
who  was  abusing  him  and  saying  that  he  was  famous, 
not  for  his  own  merits  but  because  he  was  an  Athe- 
nian, '  If  you  had  been  an  Athenian  and  I  a  Seriphian, 
neither  of  us  would  have  been  famous.' " l 

And  great  as  are  the  combined  influences  of  heredity 

and   environment,  the  element  of   individuality  still 

counts.     We  may  abuse  these  joint  laws,  and  do  so, 

indeed,  when  we  say  that  combined  they  are  the  ade- 

.  quate  explanation  of  a  man.     We  have  explained  the 

man  by  leaving  the  man  himself  out.     This  may  be 

!  an  adequate  way  of  explaining  any  organism,  like  a 

i ,  plant,  whose  consciousness  may  not  be  able  to  take 

note  of  its  inherited  inclinations  and  its  environing 

opportunities,  but  it  is  inadequate  for  all  the  higher 

l  Rep.  330  A  (Jowett,  Tr.). 


94  Idealism  in  Education 

conscious  animals.  When  the  theory  of  evolution  is 
finally  written,  it  will  be,  as  we  have  seen,  some  form  i 
of  a  psycho-physical  theory.  The  animal,  the  child, 
the  youth,  especially  the  man,  take  a  share  in  de- 
veloping their  own  being.  They  react  characteris- 
tically and  sometimes  voluntarily  upon  their  inherited 
capacity  and  their  environing  opportunity.  Such 
reaction  is  due  to  the  organism  itself,  to  its  will,  as 
we  say,  to  whose  influence  in  man-making  we  now 
come. 

REFERENCES  ON  CHAPTER  III 

BRADFORD,  A.  H.,  Heredity  and  Christian  Problems,  N.  Y., 

1895,  Chap.  V. 
BRINTON,  D.  G., "  Factors  of  Heredity  and  Environment  in  Man," 

Amir.  Anthropologist^  XI,  271-277,  Washington,  1898. 
CALDERWOOD,  H.,  Evolution  and  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  Chap. 

IV,  London,  1893. 
CONN,  H.  W.,  The  Story  of  the  Living  Machine,  Chap.  Ill, 

N.  Y,  1899. 
CRAWLEY,  "  Education  and  Evolution,11  Rep.  Brit.  Ass.  Adv.  \ 

Sc^  1907,  pp.  7I&-7I9- 
DUDLEY  AND  KELLOR,  Athletic  Games  in  the  Education  of  ] 

Women,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
FYNN,  A.  J.,  The  American  Indian  as  a  Product  of  Environment, 

Boston,  1907. 
JAMES,  "Great  Men  and   their  Environment,11  in  The  Will  to 

Believe,  N.  Y.,  1897. 
HAECKEL,  The  Natural  History  of  Creation,  Chap.  X,  N 

1876. 
LOCK,  R.  H.,  Recent  Progress  in  the  Study  of  Variation,  II 

ity,  and  Evolution,  N.  Y.,  1910. 
MAcDouGALL,    D.    T.,    "Heredity    and    Environic    Forces,"  j 

ScUncc,  N.  S.,  1908,  pp.  121-127. 
-^"The  Direct  Influence  of  Environment,11  in  Fifty  Years  < 

Darwinism,  N.  Y. 


Environment  and  Education  95 

METCALF,  Organic  Evolution,  pp.  163-188,  N.  Y.,  1904. 
MORGAN,  T.   H.,  Experimental  Zoology,  Chaps.  XVI,  XXV; 

also  pp.  315-320,  N.  Y.,  1910. 

—  Evolution  and  Adaptation,  Chap.  IX,  N.  Y.,  1903. 
ORR,   H.   B.,   Theory  of  Development  and   Heredity,  Chaps. 

Ill  and  IV,  N.  Y.,  1893. 
POULTON,  E.  B.,  Essays  on  Evolution,  Oxford,  1908. 
ROMANES,  G.   J.,   Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  Vol.   II,  Chaps. 

VII-X,  Chicago,  1895. 
SEDGWICK  AND  WILSON,  Biology,  pp.  102-110,  N.  Y.,  1895. 
[Several  Authors],  Modern  School  Buildings,  N.  Y.,  1910. 
SPENCER,  H.,  Principles  of  Biology,  2  vols.     See  Index  under 

"Environment,"  N.  Y.,  1864-1867. 
SUTTON,  Evolution  and  Disease,  Chaps.  I  and  II. 
THOMSON,  J.  ARTHUR,  "Synthetic  Summary  of  the  Influence  of 

the  Environment  upon  the  Organism,"  Proc.  Roy.  Phys.  Soc., 

Edinburgh,  IX,  446-499. 
TYLER,  J.  M.,  The  Whence  and  Whither  of  Man,  Chap.  VII, 

N.  Y.  1897. 

Man  in  the  Light  of  Evolution,  Boston,  1899. 

VERNON,  H.  M.,  Variation  in  Animals  and  Plants,  Chaps.  VI-X, 

N.  Y.,  1903. 
WARD,  L.  F.,  Applied  Sociology,  Boston,  1906. 
WEISMANN,  A.,  The  Effect  of  External  Influences  upon  Develop- 
ment, London,  1894. 


CHAPTER   IV 

WILL  AND   EDUCATION 

i.  The  Bv  "will"  in  this  connection  we  mean  the  part 

o!  Will*        the  individual  himself  plays  in  his  own  making  and  in 
the  making  of  society.     Our  preceding  discussions 
have  regarded  men  and  women  as  products,  —  prod- 
ucts of  heredity  and  environment ;  we  have  now   to 
regard  them  as  producing,  —  producing  to  a  degree 
both  themselves  and  others.     Hitherto  we  have  lost 
sight  of  the  man  himself  we  were  seeking  to  make ; 
now  we  have  to  recognize  him  as  contributing  to  his 
own  making.     The  term  "  individuality  "  would  thus  I 
be  a  synonym  for  "  will "  as  one  of  the  three  elemental  ] 
processes  in  man-making.  Especially  are  we  to  avoid 
the  idea  that  "the  will  "  is  "a  faculty  "  of  mind  dis- 
tinct from  other  so-called  "  faculties,"  such  as  intel- 
lect, memory,  reason,  and  emotion.     All  the  functions 
of  consciousness  are  interrelated ;  they  constitute  one 
organic  unity,  one  conscious  personality,  and   "the  : 
will"  is  the  name  for  the  fact  that  consciousness  is  an  1 
agent.     Consciousness  is  a  knowing,  sensitive  agent. 
It  is  this  agency  phase  of  consciousness  that  consti- 
tutes our  unique  individuality;  we  are  individuated 
in  space  by  our  bodies,  in  character  by  our  purposes 
and  deeds.     Knowledge  may  be  shared ;  one's  deed 
remains  his  very  own.     Thus  it  is  the  active  aspect  i 
of  consciousness  that  we  call  "will,"  and  it  is  this  will 

96 


Will  and  Education,  97 

which  constitutes  our  individuality,  and  it  is  this  in- 
dividuality whose  influence  in  man-making  we  are 
now  to  consider. 

It  may  help  some  in  this  preliminary  classification  individuality 
of  terms  to  distinguish  "  personality  "  from  "  indi-  aiity. 
viduality."  The  person  is  the  complete  consciousness, 
including  the  various  cognitive,  emotive,  and  motive 
phases  ;  the  individuality  is  the  motive  or  will  phase  of 
the  person.  Personality  is  a  concrete  term  ;  individu- 
ality is  an  abstract  term.  In  common  usage  the  terms 
"person  "  and  "  individual"  are  synonymous,  but  by 
"  individuality  "  one  means  particularly  the  purposes, 
deeds,  and  character  of  the  person.  These  logical 
distinctions,  tiresome  perhaps  at  the  beginning,  may 
serve  us  well  in  the  end. 

It  will  give  background  to  our  later  discussion  of  2.  Historical 
the  part  played  by  will  in  man-making  if  at  this  point  J 


we  take   a  brief   survey  of   man's   development   in  tkmofthe 
society  with  this  question  in  mind  :  what  recognition 
has  been  accorded  the  individual  in  the  past  ? 

The  history  of  civilization  and  of  its  mirror,  educa-  The  Social 
tion,  shows  a  constant  conflict  between  the  interests 
of  society,  the  big  individual,  and  of  its  members,  the 
small  individuals.  Theoretically,  there  should  be  no 
such  conflict  ;  the  best  society  is  highly  individualized, 
and  the  best  individual  is  highly  socialized.  But  this 
theoretical  ideal  is  itself  the  product  of  centuries  of 
practical  and  sometimes  groping  travail.  The  reali- 
zation of  this  ideal  is  the  true  goal  of  individual  and 
social  human  development.  Meanwhile  human  his- 
tory shows  a  very  painful  and  slow  progress  toward 


98 


Idealism  in  Education 


The  General 


Has  History 


this  happy,  nay,  blessed,  state.  In  some  cases  the 
social  interests  have  crushed  individuality  ;  in  other 
cases  individual  interests  have  shattered  old  social 
values. 

The  course  of  the  progress  in  general  has  been 
*rom  ^e  socia^  to  the  individual,  to  some  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  two.  Then  after  a  lapse  of  time,  through 
the  reentrenchment  of  the  social,  the  same  dialectic 
again,  with  perhaps  a  better  reconciliation.  And 
then,  the  same  again  and  again.  The  histories  of 
individual  nations  show  repeatedly  this  movement 
from  arbitrary  power,  to  revolution,  to  a  temp* 
harmony.  The  history  of  universal  mankind  shows 
the  same  immanent  dialectic,  from  absolutism,  to 
successful  rebellion  which  is  revolution,  to  democ- 
racy,  or  the  synthesis  of  the  universal  and  individual  < 
wills.  This  formula  is  indeed  abstract  and  sche- 
matic ;  it  may  remind  one  of  the  Hegelian  thesis,  an 
tithesis  and  synthesis;  it  certainly  does  not  do  full 
justice  to  the  concrete  facts  involved  in  this  social- 
individual  phase  of  the  human  movement  ;  and  other 
formulations  are  without  doubt  possible.  I  think 
there  is  no  single  cipher  to  the  mystery  of  human 
evolution. 

But  given   such   a  broad  generalization,  however 
inadequate,  it  unavoidably  raises  the  question  as  to  \ 
the   philosophy   of   history.     Is  the   description    of 
human  evolution  suggestive  of  the  nature  of  being  ? 
It  certainly  is  to  some  historians,  the  philosophically 
minded    ones.      Bancroft  says  of  the  American  de- 
mocracy that  it  "  proceeded  as  uniformly  and  ma 
cally  as  the  laws  of  being,  and  was  as  certain  as  the 


Will  and  Education  99 

decrees  of  eternity."  It  is  possible  to  reject  or 
accept  this  idea.1  My  present  point  is  that  there  is 
some  philosophy  of  human  history,  whether  we  have 
it,  or  are  ready  for  it,  or  can  ever  hope  to  get  it,  or 
not.  And  I  am  constantly  surprised  that  men  who 
are  interested  enough  in  man  to  discover  the  facts 
concerning  him  are  not  more  interested  in  consider- 
ing their  possible  meaning.  Facts  are  worth  while 
only  as  their  significance  is  appreciated.  So  I  am 
ready  to  encourage  any  students  of  history  to  accept 
and  improve  upon  the  most  general  descriptive  for- 
mulas and  then  seek  for  the  ultimate  meaning  behind 
them.  In  the  case  of  our  own  generalizations  con- 
cerning heredity,  environment,  and  will,  we  shall  have 
something  to  say  in  our  last  chapter  on  their  possible 
philosophical  significance. 

But  we  must  seek  to  illustrate  the  recurring  con-  illustrations, 
flict  between  the  social  and  individual  human  interests. 
Among  primitive  peoples  the  social  interests,  as  em-  Primitive 
bodied  in  the  will  of  the  chief  for  the  whole  clan  or  J 
tribe,  predominate.  The  chief  is  free  and  rules,  the 
others  are  his  subjects.  He  is  the  single  tribute-taker; 
they  are  the  tribute-givers.  The  emphasis  .  is  on 
tribal  custom,  not  on  individual  initiative.  The 
woman  particularly  is  the  burden-bearer  in  primitive 
communities.  Were  her  burdens  put  upon  her  or 
self-imposed?  "  Bebel  says  that  'woman  was  the 
first  human  being  that  tasted  bondage.  Woman  was 
a  slave  before  the  slave  existed/  But  this  expression 
takes  all  the  aroma  from  her  fragrant  life.  She  made 
a  servant  of  herself,  and  willingly,  before  there  was 
1  Cf.  Matthew  Arnold,  "A  Final  Word  on  America." 


ioo  Idealism  in  Education 

any  slavery.  The  emancipation  of  woman  is  from  a 
self-imposed  bondage,  as  everybody  knows."1  The 
bondage  may  have  been  self-imposed  at  the  outset;  it 
has  not  always  remained  so.  Test  it  where  you  will, 
the  position  of  woman  in  society  is  a  measure  of  the 
recognition  of  individuality. 

Oriental  In  the  Orient,  again,  the  social  interests  predomi- 

p__  i^_ 

nate,  this  time  as  embodied  in  the  universal  will  of  the 
despotic  ruler.  The  despotism  is  absolute;  the  ruler 
alone  is  free,  the  others  have  their  lot  in  life  pre- 
determined for  them.  The  emphasis  is  on  the  social 
institutions,  the  castes  of  India,  the  family  in  China, 
the  priestly  religion  in  Egypt.  In  this  life  the  soul 
is  suffering  the  penalties  of  misdeeds  in  a  preexistent 
life ;  the  law  of  Karma  is  exacting,  individual  effort  is 
unavailing.  A  representative  passage  is  the  follow- 
ing, from  the  Hindu  "  Panchatantra  ":  " A  gazelle  that 
had  broken  the  noose,  had  tossed  aside  the  trap  laid 
for  him,  had  broken  with  ease  through  the  net,  had 
escaped  far  away  from  the  forest  in  which  he  was 
encircled  with  a  ring  of  flame,  and  by  his  wonderful 
fleetness  had  outrun  the  reach  of  the  hunter's  arrows, 
in  his  swift  flight  fell  into  a  well.  What  avails  the 
utmost  exertion  of  man  when  the  fates  are  against 
him  ? "  As  for  woman  in  Oriental  life,  her  position 
is  represented  in  a  passage  from  the  Code  of  Manu 
(V,  17):  "A  female  child,  a  young  girl,  a  wife,  shall 
never  do  anything  according  to  their  own  will,  not 
even  in  their  own  house.  While  a  child  she  shall 
depend  on  her  father;  during  her  youth  on  her 
husband;  and,  when  a  widow,  on  her  sons." 
*  Mason,  "  Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,"  p.  284,  N.  Y.,  1900. 


Will  and  Education  101 

The  development  of  the  national  consciousness  to  the 
point  of  negating  individuality  appears  in  the  soldier- 
consciousness  of  modern  Japan,  in  the  virtue  named 
Bushido,  or  self-forgetful  loyalty,  which  played 
so  large  a  r61e  in  the  late  Russo-Japanese  war. 

In  Greece,  the  interests  of  the  city-states  dominated  Greece, 
individuality.  Sparta  is  the  best  illustration.  But 
the  city-states  were  smaller  than  the  vast  Oriental 
empires,  and,  though  there  were  many  slaves,  there 
were  also  some  freemen.  Under  Pericles  for  a  short 
while  the  social  and  individual  interests  were  so 
well  harmonized  that  his  Athens  represents  the  first 
of  the  several  historic  approaches  to  the  coming 
golden  age  of  man.  The  rise  of  the  Sophists  in 
Greece  is  the  first  illustration,  after  centuries  of 
Oriental  universalism,  of  extreme  individualism. 
Theoretically,  Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle  adjusted 
in  their  teachings  the  social  and  individual  interests, 
giving  the  world  ideal  models  of  the  solution  of  the 
problem;  practically,  Greek  national  life  went  to 
wreck  on  the  rock  of  individualism  and  fell  an  easy 
prey,  first  to  the  conquering  Alexander,  then  to  the 
Roman  eagles.  Greece  is  the  transition  from 
Oriental  absolutism  to  Western  individualism;  in 
Greece,  in  the  tragedies  of  ^schylus,  Sophocles,  and 
Euripides,  fate  is  still  the  power  behind  the  throne  of 
Zeus;  yet  in  Aristotle's  Ethics  man  is  assigned 
power  over  his  deeds ;  the  elements  of  the  problem 
of  fate  and  freedom  were  at  last  juxtaposed.  In 
^Eschylus,1  Zeus  himself  "may  not  avoid  what  is 
destined,"  and  Sophocles  makes  the  Chorus  in 

1  "  Prometheus  Bound." 


IO2  Idealism  in  Education 

"Antigone"  say,  "Pray  no  more  now.  From  his 
appointed  woe  man  cannot  fly."  In  contrast  with 
these  views  of  gods  and  men  as  effects  of  fate,  Aris- 
totle presents  us  with  the  view  of  man  as  himself  a 
cause,  saying,  in  the  third  book  of  his  Ethics,  "  Man, 
then,  as  has  been  said,  appears  to  be  the  efficient 
cause  of  his  actions." 

As  for  the  place  of  woman  in  Greek  society,  the 
older  view  is  represented  by  a  saying  of  Ismene,  one 
of  the  female  characters  in  Sophocles'  "  Antigone  "  : 
"  Nay,  rather  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  women, 
so  not  fit  to  strive  with  men."  And  Pericles  himself, 
in  his  wonderful  Funeral  Oration,  observes :  "  And, 
if  I  am  to  speak  of  womanly  virtues  to  those  of  you 
who  will  henceforth  be  widows,  let  me  sum  them  up 
in  one  short  admonition :  To  a  woman  not  to  show 
more  weakness  than  is  natural  to  her  sex  is  a  great 
glory,  and  not  to  be  talked  about  for  good  or  for  evil 
among  men."  But  the  Greek  regard  for  individual- 
ity passed  on  to  woman  to  such  a  degree  that  the  con- 
servative Aristophanes  could  satirize  the  movement 
in  his  comedy,  "The  Women's  Festival." 

In  Rome  the  social  interests  again,  in  the  form  of 
the  state-consciousness,  dominate  the  individual. 
Rome  did  not  produce  as  great  individuals  as  Greece, 
but  she  produced  a  greater  state.  In  conformity 
with  Roman  law  public  officers  at  times  condemned 
their  own  sons  to  death.  The  rights  of  the  husband 
and  father  over  wife  and  children  were  all  but  abso- 
lute. Though  noble  matrons  here  and  there  rose  to 
prominence,  the  Roman  law,  strictly  speaking, 
applicable  to  men  only,  the  woman  requiring  a  male 


Will  and  Education  103 

sponsor  in  her  legal  transactions.  The  individual 
rested  in  security  in  the  consciousness  of  the  power 
of  state  to  which  he  belonged ;  "  I  am  a  Roman 
citizen  "  was  the  Open  Sesame  to  justice  before  im- 
perial magistrates  even  in  distant  provinces.  The 
consciousness  of  the  state  as  opposed  to  the  individu- 
alism that  would  destroy  it  is  clearly  seen  in  the  con- 
flict between  Cicero  and  Catiline;  in  the  First 
Oration  against  Catiline  appear  the  words :  "  Now, 
your  country,  which  is  the  common  parent  of  all  of  us, 
hates  and  fears  you,  and  has  no  other  opinion  of  you, 
than  that  you  are  meditating  parricide  in  her  case ; 
and  will  you  feel  neither  awe  of  her  authority,  nor 
deference  for  her  judgment,  nor  fear  of  her  power?" 
That  the  sense  of  individuality  was  present,  though 
subordinate,  among  Roman  matrons  is  shown  by 
their  opposition  to  the  Appian  Law,  enacted  during 
the  heat  of  the  wars  with  Carthage,  to  the  effect  that 
"  no  woman  should  possess  more  than  half  an  ounce 
of  gold,  or  wear  a  garment  of  various  colors,  or  ride 
in  a  carriage  drawn  by  horses  in  a  city,  or  in  a  town, 
or  any  place  nearer  thereto  than  one  mile,  except  on 
occasion  of  some  public  religious  assembly/'  After 
twenty  years,  and  a  vigorous,  though  not  militant, 
campaign  of  persuasion,  the  law  was  repealed,  despite 
the  opposition  of  even  Cato  the  Censor.  On  the 
whole  in  republican  Rome  the  welfare  of  the  individ- 
ual was  merged  in  the  public  goopl.  The  presence 
of  centralized  power  caused  Rome  to  rise;  the  absence 
of  moralized  individuality  caused  Rome  to  fall. 

The  sense  of  individuality  is  keenest  among  the  The  Teutons. 
Teutons  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  world.     Man  as  man 


IO4  Idealism  in  Education 

is  free.  The  towering  Alps  divide  Europe  between 
those  who  love  authority,  in  the  South,  and  those  who 
love  freedom,  in  the  North.  Among  the  Teutonic 
peoples  the  finest  fruits  of  individuality  have  appeared 
in  local  self-government,  representative  government, 
the  rule  of  the  majority,  individual  initiative,  and  the 
greatest  modern  states.  The  Renaissance  began  to 
develop  individuality  in  the  South,  but  the  movement 
was  early  checked  by  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisition 
and  the  system  of  the  Jesuits,  and  passed  instead  into 
the  Reformation  of  the  North,  freeing  private  con- 
science  and  judgment  France  has  been  a  central 
battle-ground  between  the  forces  of  absolutism  and 
individualism,  the  acme  of  the  former  appearing  in 
Louis  XIV,  of  the  latter  in  the  French  Revolution. 
The  individualism  of  France  is  imported ;  the  blood  of 
France  naturally  is  imperial,  not  democratic.  It  is  the 
Teutons  who  have  best  shown  their  inherent  capacity  for 
self-government  It  is  beside  our  purpose  to  trace  this 
principle  in  its  gradual  development  from  the  primitive 
Germans  of  the  Black  Forest  to  the  modern  Americans. 
The  clear  vision  of  Tacitus  already  saw  and  desci 
the  salient  traits  of  Germanic  character,  so  contrasting 
with  Roman  corruption.  Of  the  Germanic  coum-ils 
he  writes:  "  About  minor  matters  the  chiefs  deliber- 
ate, about  the  more  important  the  whole  tribe.  .  .  . 
The  king  or  the  chief  —  according  to  age,  birth,  dis- 
tinction in  war,  or  eloquence — is  heard,  more  because 
he  has  influence  to  persuade  than  because  he  has 
power  to  command.  If  his  sentiments  displease  them, 
they  reject  them  with  murmurs ;  if  they  are  satisfied, 
they  brandish  their  spears/'  And  concerning  the 


Will  and  Education  105 

lofty  recognition  of  woman  by  these  warlike  tribes 
Tacitus  says  :  "  They  even  believe  that  the  sex  has  a 
certain  sanctity  and  prescience ;  and  they  do  not  de- 
spise their  counsels  or  make  light  of  their  answers. 
In  Vespasian's  days  we  saw  Veleda,  long  regarded  by 
many  as  a  divinity.  In  former  times  too  they  ven- 
erated Aurinia,  and  many  other  women ;  but  not  with 
servile  flatteries  or  with  sham  deification. "  It  is  no 
accident  but  racial  logic  that  modern  movements  for 
a  wider  emancipation  of  women  arise  among  the 
Teutonic  peoples,  however  those  movements  do  or 
ought  to  eventuate. 

Modern  Western  civilization  is  a  stream  with  four  Christianity, 
main  composing  tributaries,  the  Greek,  the  Roman, 
the  Teuton,  as  stocks,  and  Christianity  as  an  adopted 
religion.  All  the  world's  great  religions  have  orig- 
inated in  the  East  Of  these  religions  Christianity 
is  the  only  one  fully  to  recognize  individuality,  Zoro- 
astrianism  in  Persia  coming  next  to  Christianity  in 
this  respect ;  and  Christianity  is  the  only  Eastern  re- 
ligion to  make  headway  in  the  West.  This  again  is 
ino  accident,  but  a  case  of  racial  apperception ;  Chris- 
jtianity  provided  that  individuality  which  the  West, 
(especially  the  Teuton,  demanded.  It  is  significant  of 
jracial  traits  that  the  primitive  individualism  of  Chris- 
jtianity  was  overlaid  by  universal  authority  in  Rome, 
I  only  to  be  revived  again  by  Luther,  Zwingli,  Calvin, 
IKnox,  and  others  of  the  North.  Luther  did  for 
!  Christianity  what  Jesus  did  for  Judaism,  —  emancipated 
|it  from  external  and  material  form  and  power. 

But  was  primitive  Christianity  characterized  by  the 
recognition  of  individuality?     According  to  the  teach- 


io6  Idealism  in  Education 

Early  Chris-    ings  that  have  come  down  to  us  the  individual  soul  is 
°*  suPreme  value,  its  loss  for  the  possession  of  the  ' 
earth  is  a  poor  sacrifice,  its  repentance  causes  heavenly 
joy.     The  Heavenly  Father  marks  the  sparrow's  fall, 
and  man  is  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows;  even! 
the  hairs  of  the  head  are  numbered.     Women,  both ! 
the  good  and  the  bad,  both  Mary,  and  Martha,  and! 
the  Magdalen,  shared  equally  with  men  the  blessings] 
of  the  kingdom,  and  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles! 
eliminated  the  distinction  in  Christ  between  the  male] 
and  female.     Children,  hitherto  uncounted,  if  girls,  1 
and  little  regarded  till  youth,  if  boys,  were  chosen  as] 
object-lessons  of  the  new  Kingdom. 

Christianity         Christianity  is  fulfilled  Judaism.     This  is  true  inj 
and  Judaism.  generajf  anj  ft  js  ^5  particularly  as  regards  individu- 
alism.    The  eighth-century  prophets,  beginning  with 
Amos,  were  moral  individualists.     The  extreme  of  indi- 
vidualism appears  in  Ezekiel:  "The  soul  that  sinncth, 
it  shall  die."     A  suffering  individual  is  Jeremiah,  and] 
a  healing,  self-sacrificing  individual  is  described  by 
Isaiah.     Jesus  was  a  religious  individualist,  a  prophet] 
rejecting  the  priestlincss  of  his  times,  a  pure  soul  im- 
mediately sensing  God  and  proclaiming  the  religion! 
of  spirit  against  the  religion  of  materialism  and  for- ! 
malism.     His  soul  had  grown  under  the  tutelage  of  the 
old  prophets.     He  solved  the  problem  of  the  clash] 
between  authority  and  freedom  by  yielding  obedience] 
in  things  temporal  to  the  powers  that  be,  even  unto 
death,  and  by  emancipating  the  human  spirit  in  things] 
eternal.     God  is  spirit,  not  local;  and  the  service  duel 
Him  is  different  from  that  due  Caesar.     In  the  tem-j 
poral  world  of  power  without,  the  individual  is  sub- ; 


Will  and  Education  107 

jected;  in  the  eternal  world  of  spirit  within,  the  indi- 
vidual is  free  before  God.  The  Kingdom  of  Jesus 
is  not  of  this  outward  world,  it  is  within.  Jesus  is 
the  emancipator  of  the  spiritual  individual;  it  is  a 
great  mistake  to  regard  him  as  a  social  agitator;  but 
he  trusted  the  new  spirit,  like  leaven,  to  leaven  nat- 
urally in  time  the  whole  social  lump.  And  this  ex- 
pectation of  his  the  centuries  are  realizing. 

The  history  of  Christianity  has  not  always  left  the  individual- 
individual  spiritually  free.  Paul  rejected  the  require-  Hfetory  of 
ments  of  Jewish  legalism.  Also  he  closely  followed  Christianity. 
Jesus  in  preaching  obedience  to  the  higher  powers, 
but  he  departed  from  Jesus  in  introducing  formal, 
even  fixed,  relations  between  God  and  the  human 
Isoul,  in  such  doctrines  as  foreknowledge  and  foreor- 
Idination.  Jesus  had  been  at  pains  to  connect  human 
suffering  with  God's  glory  in  its  relief  and  to  discon- 
nect human  suffering  and  past  sins;  he  rejected  the 
Oriental  idea  that  this  blind  man's  sin  in  some  pre- 
existent  state  might  have  caused  him  to  be  born  blind 
(cf.  John  9 :  2);  in  Paul,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
the  Eastern  ideas  of  the  subjection  of  the  soul  to 
the  heavenly  powers  parallel  to  the  subjection  of  the 
body  to  the  temporal  powers  come  into  the  Christian 
tradition. 

In  St.  Augustine,  following  Paul,  the  doctrine  of 
election  is  perfected.  In  the  popes  temporal  and 
spiritual  powers  are  united,  and  the  body  and  soul  of 
the  individual  yield  obedience  to  the  Church. 

The  Middle  Ages,  not  felt  as  "dark"  to  themselves,  The  Middle 
nor  deserving  to  be  so  called  by  us,  witness  to  the  Ages* 
domination  of   individuality   by   the   system   of  the 


lo8  Idealism  in  Education 

Church.     Rome  did  not  become  Christian  so  much 
as  Christianity  became  Roman. 

Protestant-  The  significance  of  the  Renaissance  and  the  Refor- 
mation for  individuality  we  shall  see  briefly  later. 
Here  it  is  important  to  note  that  authority,  temporal 
and  spiritual,  outlived  the  Reformation.  Geneva  be- 
came "the  Rome  of  Protestantism."  The  paradox 
in  Calvin  is  that  as  a  reformer  he  was  an  individualist, 
and  as  a  reviver  of  the  Augustinian  tradition  of  elec- 
tion he  was  a  predestinationist.  The  Presbyterians 
have  likewise  in  their  history  on  the  one  hand  been 
the  parents  of  human  democracy  and  on  the  other 
hand  advocates  of  the  Divine  autocracy.  In  most 
Protestantism,  though  born  in  the  right  of  private 
conscience,  reason,  and  the  personal  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures,  non-conforming  individualism  i 
heretical  as  in  Catholicism.  "  Arminianism,"  affirming 
among  other  things  the  power  of  the  individual  to 
resist  Divine  Grace,  and  even  to  fall  from  it,  was  con- 
demned in  the  land  of  its  birth,  though  the  Weslcyan 
Methodists  have  continued  these  views. 

The  Protest-  A  paradox,  similar  to  that  in  Calvin's  case,  runs 
ior*  through  most  Protestantism  ;  it  defends  private  judg- 
ment, but  all  must  believe  in  foreordination.  The 
reason  for  this  paradox  is  that  Protestantism  went 
only  a  part  of  the  way  toward  individualism ;  by  pri- 
vate conscience  it  changed  authorities  ;  it  substituted 
for  the  authority  of  Rome  the  authority  of  Scripture; 
its  principle  was  that  Scripture  should  be  personally  in- 
terpreted ;  its  practice  usually  was  that  Scripture  was 
authoritatively  interpreted. 

So  the  matter  stands  to-day  in  the  Christian  world. 


Will  and  Education  109 

The  spirit  of  Jesus  and  of  individualism  and  of  toler- 
ance is  leavening  still  both  Protestantism  and  Cathol- 
icism; but  the  leaven  works  slowly  and  the  lump  is 
large.  It  will  probably  be  felt,  without  having  to  be 
said,  that  our  purpose  in  this  review  of  Christian 
history  on  the  question  of  "  the  system  against  the 
man  "  is  simply  to  understand,  not  to  estimate,  least 
of  all  to  condemn. 

These  views,  then,  represent  the  fortunes  of  will  in 
the  long  past.  Our  ultimate  question  is,  what  is  the 
place  of  will  in  man-making  ?  To  help  us  still  further 
in  answering  this  question,  let  us  review  the  general 
estimates  of  will  in  the  just  past. 

The  period  of  history  since  the  European  Renais-  3.  Modem 
sance  has  witnessed  the  assertion  of   the  individual  ^f5^™^! 
will  against  established  institutions,  also  the  recog-  dividual, 
nition  of  the  fatuity  of  mere  individualism,  and  finally 
the  demand  for  proper  adjustment  between  the  indi- 
vidual and  society.     The  Renaissance  was  the  upris-  The  Renais- 
ing  of  suppressed  individuality  ;  the  interests  of  this 
world  asserted  themselves  against  the  interests  of  the 
other  world ;  men  began  to  discover  old  manuscripts 
and  new  continents,  they  invented  the  compass  and 
gunpowder,  they  set  up  printing-presses  and  began  to 
make  books. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  was  the  Renaissance  The  Refor- 
of  the  North ;  it  was  the  rise  of  individuality  in  re-  mation- 
ligion.     The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation,  ex- 
pressing individuality,  destroyed  for  all  time  that  unity 
of  life  which  characterized  the  Middle  Ages.     Modern 
life  is  characterized  by  variety.     Against  the  principle 


no 


Idealism  in  Education 


The  French 
Revolution. 


w.  Social 


of  individuality  in  religion,  which  was  the  Reformation 
of  Protestantism,  came  the  reaction  of  the  mediaeval 
principle  of  authority  in  religion,  which  was  the 
Counter-Reformation  of  Catholicism.  The  warfare 
between  these  two  parties  and  principles  has  been 
long  and  bitter,  though  signs  of  its  abatement  are 
plentiful ;  it  divided  Europe  into  two,  mainly  with  the 
line  of  the  Alps. 

From  the  spheres  of  learning  and  religion  the  prin- 
ciple of  individuality  passed  into  the  sphere  of  politics. 
Its  extreme  recognition  appears  in  the  emotional  phi- 
losophy of  Rousseau  and  its  extreme  application  in  the 
French  Revolution.  The  destructiveness  of  mere  in- 
dividualism is  here  apparent  to  all,  whether  friends 
or  foes  of  individuality.  It  became  evident  to  all 
sober  minds  that  mediaeval  authority  was  one  extreme 
and  the  individualism  of  the  Revolutionists  was  an- 
other, and  that  the  need  was  for  the  golden  mean  of 
reconciliation  of  these  two  extremes.  The  great 
modern  states,  Germany,  France,  England,  and 
America,  are  the  vast  practical  illustrations  of  the  po- 
litical supply  of  this  need. 

It  is  characteristic  of  minds  ignorant  of  history  to 
propose  solutions  of  modern   questions  in  terms   of 
either  extreme.     The   anarchists,  for  example,   are 
extreme  individualists.     The  Socialists  are,  as  thrir 
name  implies,  at  the  opposite  extreme.     To  the  an- 
archist the  government  is  nothing  and  the  individual 
is  everything ;  to  the  Socialist,  the  individual  is  i 
ing  and  the  government  is  everything.     To  the 
toric  type  of  thinker,  government  and  individuality 
arc  two  extremes  of  one  reality;  true  government 


Will  and  Education  in 

must  express  individuality,  and  true  individuality  must 
embody  the  laws  of  the  government.  Modern  in- 
dustrial conflicts  between  labor  and  capital  are  really 
illustrations  of  the  effort  of  the  two  principles  of  the 
individual  and  the  organization  to  live  together. 
Trade  unionism  is  the  effort  to  preserve  individuality 
by  organization.  The  social  turmoil  of  our  times,  so 
confusing  to  the  casual  observer,  is  really  the  effect 
of  the  efforts  of  adjustment  between  the  forces  that 
make  and  crush  individuality.  The  solution  will  be 
neither  anarchistic  nor  socialistic,  but  humane,  and,  in 
the  broadest  sense,  Christian. 

Passing  now  from  the  estimate  of  will  in  society  Exaggera- 
at  large  to  the  estimate  of  will  in  the  person,  it  t]  3ns  of  WllL 
was  natural  that  the  modern  period  first  saw  an 
exaggeration  of  the  power  of  will.  Under  the  spell 
of  the  social  momentum  disengaged  by  Renaissance, 
Reformation,  and  Revolution  alike,  it  was  natural 
that  all  things  seemed  possible  to  the  individual. 
He  came  to  exaggerate  the  power  of  his  own  will. 
The  whole  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century  revealed  a  tendency  to 
magnify  unduly  the  influence  of  the  individual  will. 
We  see  an  illustration  of  this  in  the  exaggerated 
faith  in  education  of  the  period  of  the  Enlighten- 
ment, illustrated  in  the  sayings  of  Leibnitz  and  Kant. 
We  see  the  same  illustrated  in  such  sayings  of  this 
period  as :  man  is  the  arbiter  of  his  own  destiny,  the 
architect  of  his  own  fortune,  the  maker  of  his  own 
future,  and  the  like.  Such  sayings  attain  a  certain 
popularity,  as  they  appeal  to  the  personal  powers. 
Emerson,  quite  inconsistently  with  his  doctrine  of 


112 


Idealism  in  Education 


the  transcendental  Over-Soul,  became  in  some  of 
passages  the  American  mouthpiece  of  this  doctrine 
as  when  he  says,  "  Man  is  everything,  environme 
is  nothing  "  ;  "  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star  "  ;  "  The 
youth  replies,  I  can,"  etc.  Lincoln  has  commonly 
been  cited  as  an  illustration  of  the  view  that  the 
will  is  the  sole  essential  thing  in  achievement,  it 
being  forgotten  that  he  himself  said,  with  some 
degree  of  truth  certainly,  "  All  that  I  am,  or  ever 
expect  to  become,  is  due  to  my  mother." 

But  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
this  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  power  of  the  individ- 
ual will  was  offset  by  an  opposite  tendency,  equally 
extreme  probably,  to  minimize  it.  This  tendency 
was  due  to  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  man  is 
a  very  small  part  of  a  very  vast  whole  and  that 
the  part  is  determined  by  the  whole.  Biology,  for 
example,  began  to  explain  animals  in  terms  of 
heredity  and  environment  and  to  claim  that  man, 
as  an  erected  animal,  was  no  exception.  He  was 
made  by  the  general  forces  that  produced  other 
animal  life  and  had  no  part  in  his  own  making. 

With  the  rise  of  biology  came  also  sociology,  the 
study  of  men  in  groups  and  masses,  this  being  the 
natural  state  of  man.  From  the  sociological  stand- 
point the  actions  of  the  individual  are  largely,  if  not 
entirely,  explicable  in  terms  of  certain  social  and 
mental  forces  named  imitation  and  suggestion  and 
the  like.  "The  individual  is  a  social  deposit/'  as 
I  heard  one  sociologist  observe.  Such  a  view  does 
not  intimate  that  the  individual  has  anything  to  do 
with  depositing  himself. 


Will  and  Education  113 

To  the  influence  of  the  biological  and  sociological  An  Age  of 
viewpoints  in  helping  to  explain  the  recent  minimiz-  Machmery- 
ing  of  the  will  of  the  individual  may  be  added  that 
of  a  machine-age.  Modern  achievements  have  been 
realized  by  machines,  —  the  cotton-gin,  the  sewing- 
machine,  the  type-setting  machine,  the  war-vessel, 
steam-engine,  the  flying-machine,  etc.  Each  ma- 
chine has  displaced  some  type  of  individual  laborer. 
Machines  have  also  displaced  the  apprentice  system 
that  made  the  laborer  an  individual,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  specialized  system  that  reduces  the 
laborer  to  a  part  of  a  man  and  in  some  cases  almost 
to  a  part  of  the  machine.  The  work  of  the  modern 
world  is  done  by  grinding  machinery  destructive 
of  individuality.  The  workman  finds  no  freedom 
in  his  work,  but  only  from  his  work.  We  must  have 
machines;  they  will  continue  to  supplant,  and,  in 
some  instances,  to  degrade,  the  laborer,  diminish- 
ing our  sense  of  what  man  can  do.  But,  if  we  regard 
them  rightly,  we  shall  see  they  are  but  expressions  of 
the  will  of  man,  fulfilling  his  larger  purposes.  The 
more  wonderful  the  machine,  the  greater  its  inventor, 
and  the  more  skilled  its  manipulator.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  an  age  of  machinery  crush  the  sense  of  per- 
sonality, but  it  is  necessary  that  the  modern  workman 
have  some  resources  other  than  his  work. 

To  all  these  explanatory  influences  may  be  added  A  Mechani- 
yet  another,  that  of  a  mechanical  philosophy.     The  ^      h 
tendency  to  eliminate  will  in  the  explanation  of  the 
individual  is  closely  associated  with  the  tendency  to 
eliminate  will  and  personality  in  the  explanation  of 
the  world.     A  mechanical  explanation  is  the  ideal  of 


114  Idealism  in  Education 

all  scientific  endeavor.  Physics,  chemistry,  biology, 
physiology,  in  fact,  all  the  modern  physical  and  nat- 
ural sciences,  tend  to  explain  one  material  phenom- 
enon in  terms  of  an  antecedent  and  equivalent 
material  phenomenon,  known  as  its  cause.  Thus  all 
causes  are  viewed  as  material  in  nature.  Physiolog- 
ical psychology  adopts  a  similar  scientific  standpoint, 
and  explains  mental  states  in  terms  of  brain-states, 
said  to  "  correspond  "  with  the  mental  states.  The 
soul  of  man  is  thus  viewed  by  science  as  a  mechanism, 
part  and  parcel  indeed  of  the  vast  mechanism  we 
name  the  universe.  Later  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
criticise  this  view.  For  the  present  it  is  enough  to 
observe  that  this  view  of  the  soul  exists,  that  it  is 
part  of  a  current  mechanical,  in  some  instances  also 
materialistic  philosophy,  and  that  it  is  one  of  the  in- 
fluences  tending  to  minimize  the  importance  of  the 
human  will  in  the  making  of  men  and  women. 

Thus  we  have  tried  to  describe  both  the  enlarged 
and  the  diminished  estimates  of  the  individual  will 
that  have  prevailed  since  the  rise  of  individuality  in 
the  modern  period  of  the  world's  history.  On  the 
face  of  it,  it  is  too  much  to  say  that  the  human  will 
can  do  anything  it  undertakes — this  is  an  exaggera- 
tion. Is  it  not  also  too  much  to  say  that  the  human 
will  can  do  nothing?  It  evidently  is  to  those  who 
observe  that  man's  machinery,  however  crushing  in 
instances  to  man's  individuality,  is  nevertheless  the 
product  of  man's  will  to  invent  and  the  fulfilment  of 
man's  purposes  to  produce  economically  and  on  a 
vast  scale  and  to  master  the  forces  of  nature.  It  is 
really  surprising  that  man  will  sacrifice  himself  under 


Will  and  Education  115 

the  wheels  of  the  Juggernaut  of  mechanism  he  has 
himself  constructed. 


After  so  much  review  of  past  and  present  esti-  4.  The  Future 

of  Indi- 
vidualism. 


mates  of  will,  seeing  particularly  the  swing  of  action  c 


and  reaction  between  a  magnified  and  minimized  view 
of  will,  the  question  naturally  arises,  what  of  the  fu- 
ture? Let  us  then  clearly  raise  the  question,  after 
seeing  as  we  have  the  slow  movement  of  the  whole 
world  in  the  direction  of  individualism,  with  many  a 
back-stroke,  however,  what  the  end  of  this  develop- 
ment is  or  ought  to  be. 

Utmost  individualism  in  politics  is  anarchy ;  in  re-  Extremes 
ligion  is  private  devotions  only;  in  philosophy,  which  must 
we  did  not  review,  would  be  some  form  of  pluralism 
for  the  world  and  "  the  liberty  of  indifference "  for 
man.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  on  the  basis  of  mere 
individualism,  no  church,  no  state,  and,  we  may  add, 
no  cosmos,  is  possible.  On  the  other  hand,  utmost 
universalism  is  absolutism  in  politics,  quietism  in  re- 
ligion, and  Pantheism  in  philosophy  and  religion,  all 
of  which  have  characterized  the  East.  Under  these 
conditions  human  society  is  stable,  but  stationary. 
Change  in  politics  is  treason,  in  religion  is  heresy,  in 
the  world  is  illusion.  The  ideal  for  man  is  dream- 
less sleep  on  earth  and  absorption  in  heaven.  The 
thesis  of  the  East  is  permanence;  the  antithesis  is 
that  individualism,  which  has  appeared  in  the  West 
in  Greek  sophistry,  the  origin  of  Christianity,  the 
Renaissance,  the  Reformation,  the  French  Revolu- 
tion and  modern  democracies,  is  change ;  the  synthesis 
is  certainly  to  be  some  adjustment  of  the  claims  of  per- 
manence and  change,  of  authority  and  freedom. 


u6 


Idealism  in  Education 


Illustrations. 


The  God  of 

Social 

Evolution. 


When  authority  ceases  to  represent  individuality 
there  has  been  and  will  be  revolution ;  when  individ- 
uals win  their  freedom,  there  has  been  and  there  must 
be  organization  and  authority  to  preserve  what  has 
been  gained.  The  absolutism  of  George  III  caused 
the  American  colonies  to  assert  their  freedom ;  to  pre- 
serve this  dearly  bought  possession  as  a  heritage  they 
organized,  first  loosely  into  a  confederation  and  then 
more  compactly  into  a  union.  Whei>  the  central 
government  assumed  powers  over  the  states  not  ex- 
pressly delegated  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Union, 
the  Southern  States,  in  defence  of  their  rights  as  states, 
fought  for  independence ;  the  war  failing,  a  still  more 
compact  union  resulted,  and  centralization  was  ad- 
vanced. Perhaps  the  pendulum  of  progress  will  con- 
tinue to  swing  between  the  extremes  of  universalism 
and  individualism  in  all  man's  affairs,  but  the  ideal 
evidently  is  a  human  society  whose  laws  are  just  and 
authoritative  and  whose  individual  members  are  free, 
—  a  society  of  individual  liberty  and  social  union,  of 
freedom  under  law,  of  change  and  permanence. 
Authority  must  be  tolerant  of  individual  change  and 
provide  for  it  within  the  system ;  individualism  must 
patiently  submit  to  being  controlled  by  an  authorita- 
tive system  that  is  the  true  expression  of  its  own 
rational  will.  Particularly  are  law  and  authority  for 
children,  and  liberty  and  reason  for  adults,  both 
among  men  and  nations  and  races. 

Our  review  of  historic  human  development  indicates 
the  goal  of  the  process  to  be  an  individualized  society 
and  a  socialized  individual.  This  is  a  unity  of  greatest 
variety  and  a  variety  with  greatest  unity.  Had  we 


Will  and  Education  117 

taken  a  wider  sweep  and  considered  the  evolution  of 
organic  forms,  or  a  still  wider  sweep  and  considered 
the  evolution  of  the  inorganic  universe,  the  same  con- 
clusion would  have  been  indicated.  Everywhere  the 
progress  has  been  from  the  universal,  to  the  individual, 
to  their  concrete  unity  ;  from  the  homogeneous,  to  the 
heterogeneous,  to  their  closer  unity ;  from  the  undif- 
ferentiated,  through  differentiation,  into  integration; 
from  immediacy,  through  mediation,  to  concreteness. 
The  formulas  of  science  and  philosophy,  of  Darwin, 
Spencer,  and  Hegel,  are  all  at  one  here.  Human 
society,  the  human  body,  the  human  mind,  the  animal 
body,  the  material  universe,  each  and  all  are  concrete 
unities  of  diverse  elements.  Universal  evolution  has 
moved  in  the  direction  of  individual  differentiation, 
but  the  individual  so  differentiated  embodies  the  type 
in  himself. 

All  this  is  abstract  enough,  perhaps  too  abstract  for  Summary  of 
clear  understanding.     The  next  point  will   be  more  ^^f0!0^ 
concrete.     Our  initial  question  was,  what  recognition  dividuaiity. 
has  been  accorded  individuality  in  the  world's  prog- 
ress;  our  general  answer  is  a  constantly  enlarging 
recognition  of  the  rational,  not  eccentric,  individual. 
This  suggests  that  the  will  of  man  has  been  more 
and  more  recognized  as  contributing  to  his  making  or 
unmaking.     The  Oriental  will  is»paralyzed ;  the  Greek 
will  was  very  active  in  support  of  the  city-state ;  the 
modern  will  demands  self-expression,  and  modern  states 
are  the  best  illustrations  so  far  forthcoming  of  the 
objectified  will  of  all  the  people. 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  recognition  of  individu- 
ality in  the  long  past  and  the  near  present,  and  have 


u8 


Idealism  in  Education 


5.  Anticipa- 
tions of  Will 
in  the  Pre- 
ceding 
Discussions 
of  Heredity 
and  En- 
vironment 


In 

-Heredity. 


In  "En- 
vironment." 


anticipated  what  the  future  may  reveal.  This  is  all 
preliminary  to  the  question  as  to  the  golden  mean  in 
estimating  the  influence  of  the  individual  will.  What 
does  will  contribute  to  the  making  of  men  and  women  ? 

Still  briefly  delaying  our  answer  for  the  sake  of  a 
better  one  perhaps  when  we  reach  it,  it  may  be  well 
for  us  to  note  as  a  further  preliminary  the  anticipations 
of  will  in  the  preceding  discussions  of  heredity  and 
environment.  We  could  not  describe  the  action  of 
these  forces  in  making  man  without  also  involving 
man's  reaction  to  these  forces,  which  is  the  first  form 
of  his  will.  In  discussing  heredity,  for  instance,  such 
matters  came  up  as " tropisms,"  "selection/1  "sexual 
selection,"  "organic  selection,"  and  the  like,  —  all  in- 
dicating the  r61e  played  by  the  individual  itself  in 
making  both  itself  and  its  race.  "  Sexual  selection  " 
particularly  indicates  the  big  r61e  mind  through  its 
tastes  and  preferences  has  played  in  evolution.  Like- 
wise we  had  to  point  out  that  character  is  not  inher- 
ited, though  inherent  characteristics  may  be ;  neither  is 
character  a  product  of  environment;  it  is  peculiarly 
the  acquisition  of  the  individual  through  his  reactions 
upon  heredity  and  environment. 

In  discussing  environment  too  we  came  upon  will, 
by  anticipation.  The  effects  of  use  and  disuse  upon 
the  organism,  and  also  upon  its  offspring,  if  we  adopt 
the  Lamarckian  hypothesis,  suggest  will,  for  it  is  the 
part  of  the  individual  to  use  or  not  to  use.  The  very 
term  "  natural  selection  "  implies  a  kind  of  unconscious 
purpose  in  Nature,  choosing  the  fit  and  rejecting  the 
unfit.  The  "adjustment"  of  the  individual  to  its  en- 


Will  and  Education  119 

vironment,  which  is  the  essential  condition  of  its  sur- 
vival, is  a  reciprocal  process;  the  environment  weeds 
out  the  unfit,  and  the  fit  find  propitious  places  in  the 
environment.  The  environment  modifies  the  organ- 
ism, and  the  organism,  in  turn,  modifies  the  environ- 
ment. Without  meaning  to  imply  will  as  a  third 
element  in  the  process,  in  addition  to  heredity  and  en- 
vironment, the  scientist  yet  naturally  adopts  the  lan- 
guage of  will,  as  when  De  Vries  says :  "  Each  plant  must 
have  sought  out  the  conditions  where  it  could  thrive 
best  on  account  of  its  given  peculiarities." l  Also  we 
had  to  speak  of  the  modifications  of  environment  by 
will,  as  in  irrigation  and  fertilization  of  soils.  Even 
our  "duty  to  environment"  had  to  be  discussed,  but 
"  duty  "  clearly  is  a  category  of  will.  Such  influential 
forces  of  the  social  environment  as  "  imitation  "  and 
"  suggestion  "  also  imply  the  conscious  response  of  the 
individual  to  certain  stimuli,  which  is  a  phenomenon 
of  will.  Other  instances  may  likewise  be  recalled  of 
the  way  in  which  the  recognition  of  will  forced  itself 
upon  us  in  our  discussions  of  heredity  and  environment 
that  tried  to  leave  will  out.  Thus,  in  sum,  our  discus- 
sions both  of  the  historic  and  scientific  bearings  of  our 
question  prepare  us  for  a  statement,  though  no  extrav- 
agant one,  asserting  individual  initiative  as  one  of  the 
man-producing  forces. 

What,  then,  at  length,  is  the  contribution  of  will  to  6.  The  Con 
man-making?     In  the  first  place,  it  is  through  will  wnf 
that  we  develop  or  neglect  the  capacity  bestowed  by  Making. 
heredity.     A  gifted  person  may  idle  away  his  time; 

1  De  Vries,  "  Plant-Breeding,"  p.  335. 


120 


Idealism  in  Education 


Dcrelop- 
ment  of 
Capacity. 


An 
Objection. 


Uieof 

Opportunity. 


an  average  person  may  improve  himself  as  best  he 
can.  It  is  for  the  man  himself  to  say  whether  he  will 
strive  to  be  all  that  Nature  intended  him  to  be  or  not. 
A  capacity  undeveloped  is  as  fruitless  as  no  capacity 
at  all,  as  a  seed  unsown  is  as  barren  as  a  dead  seed. 
It  is  by  will  that  we  realize  capacities,  that  we  neglect 
capacities,  that  we  choose  to  be  or  not  to  be  what  our 
inherent  potentialities  allow. 

If  one  objects  that  our  handling  of  capacities  is  it- 
self a  product  of  heredity  and  that  no  element  of  will 
is  involved,  the  answer  is  the  appeal  to  the  conscious 
choice  of  personal  experience.  We  experience  the  fact 
that  we  consciously  choose  to  do  or  not  to  do  what  lies 
within  our  power.  We  do  not  choose  our  capacities, 
they  are  ours  by  heredity  without  choice;  but  we  do 
choose  to  realize  or  slight  them,  we  do  feel  such  choice 
is  in  our  power,  and  corresponding  feelings  of  satis 
faction  or  reproach  accompany  such  choices.  Such 
feedings  would  not  be  appropriate  if  the  choice  itself 
were  inherited;  nor  would  the  feeling  of  tire  power  to 
choose  be  present  if  the  choice  were  inherited,  for  con- 
cerning our  mental  inheritances  we  feel  contrariwise 
that  they  could  not  have  been  nor  could  they  be  differ- 
ent We  must  then  conclude  that  the  individual  has 
some  power  in  dealing  with  his  inheritance  which  is  not 
predetermined  in  its  operation  by  his  inheritance. 

Secondly,  will  uses  or  abuses  the  opportunities  of 
environment  Such  use  or  abuse  makes  a  vast  differ- 
ence in  the  outcome  of  the  individual.  An  unused 
opportunity  is  as  fruitless  as  no  opportunity  at  all. 
By  the  use  of  opportunity  capacities  are  realized 
and  one  is  prepared  for  larger  opportunities  just 


Will  and  Education  121 

ahead.  The  opportunity  is  the  gift  of  the  envi- 
ronment. It  cannot  be  said  in  any  strict  sense  that 
a  man  makes  his  opportunities ;  he  can  use  them  as 
they  arise  to  more  or  less  advantage.  Further,  if 
those  that  the  present  environment  affords  do  not 
suit  him  and  give  him  the  chance  he  needs,  he  can 
select  another  and  more  suitable  environment,  as 
when  he  leaves  his  home-town  and  school  to  go  off  to 
college.  Still  further,  to  some  extent  a  man  can  re- 
make a  present  environment  which  he  does  not  like, 
as  when  a  citizen  provides  a  public  library  for  his 
home-town.  By  will  too  we  may  refuse  to  imitate  the 
morals  of  our  social  environment ;  we  may  refuse  to 
act  upon  the  suggestive  ideas  that  captivate  so  many 
of  our  fellows.  We  may  be  independents  and  do  our 
own  thinking ;  we  may  be  radical  in  the  midst  of  con- 
servatives, or  conservative  in  the  midst  of  radicals. 
We  may  refuse  to  shape  our  opinions  by  the  edito- 
rials of  our  favorite  newspaper.  In  all  these  ways  the 
element  of  individuality  is  expressing  itself  in  relation 
to  the  environing  opportunities.  Whether  we  yield  to 
or  resist  the  social  stimuli  to  action,  we  are  express- 
ing our  individuality.  In  this  connection  it  should  be 
remarked  that  the  highest  mental  power  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  that  of  critical  judgment,  making  of  him  a 
full  person  and  inducing  social  progress. 

If    one    here    objects   that  the   environment  not  An 
simply  presents  the  opportunity  but  also  determines  ObJectlon- 
our  response  to  it,  thereby  eliminating  the  personal 
element  of  will,  the  answer  again  is  the  appeal  to  the 
personal  experience  of  conscious  choice.     We  feel  it 
is  in  our  power  to  work  or  to  loaf  during  the  morning 


122  Idealism  in  Education 

hours  of  vacation  days,  and  that  the  double  oppor- 
tunity does  not  itself  determine  our  specific  reaction ; 
we  ourselves  determine  that.  Here  again,  then,  in 
relation  to  the  situations  provided  by  circumstance, 
the  power  of  the  will  in  the  making  of  the  man  shows 
itself. 

In  his  first  Baccalaureate,  President  Lowell  told 
the  Harvard  seniors  that  environment  is  not  master. 
"  It  is  also  true,"  he  said,  "  that  a  man  creates  to  a 
great  extent  his  own  environment.  He  is  not 
affected  equally  by  everything  that  surrounds  him. 
He  is  mainly  influenced  by,  and  conversely  his  per- 
sonality reacts  upon,  those  things  of  which  he  is  con- 
scious, which  he  perceives.  .  .  .  The  differences  in 
men's  careers  are  often  based  not  so  much  on  the  op- 
portunities they  have  had,  as  upon  the  use  they  have 
made  of  them.M  A  man's  real  environment  is  the 
things  of  which  he  is  conscious,  over  which  he  has 
some  power  through  his  selective  attention  and  in- 
terests. 
The  Law  of  We  were  able  to  state  the  forces  of  heredity  and 


to  ***"  environment  in  the  making  of  men  and  women  in  the 
form  of  laws ;  can  we  not  do  the  same  for  will  ?  It 
would  be  as  follows:  within  the  limitations  of  in- 
herited capacities  and  environing  opportunities,  man 
becomes  what  he  will.  This  is  the  long-sought  an- 
swer to  our  fundamental  question  as  to  the  relative 
place  of  will  in  man-making.  It  clearly  means  that 
we  cannot  become  what  we  will ;  it  equally  clearly 
means  that,  given  certain  limits,  within  these  we  can 
become  what  we  will.  We  cannot  by  willing  enlarge 
our  boundaries ;  we  can  by  willing  cultivate  and  im- 


Will  and  Education  123 

prove  our  soil.  We  cannot  by  willing  enlarge  our 
capacities,  but  only  develop  them.  We  cannot  by  will- 
ing create  opportunities,  but  only  utilize  them  and 
help  them  arise. 

The  practical  question  may  naturally  arise  as  to  The  Essence 
how  will  acts  in  developing  capacities  and  using  op-  of  Wlil* 
portunities.  The  answer  is  that  the  essence  of  will 
consists  in  attention  to  thoughts.  We  have  already 
had  occasion  to  observe  that  the  will  is  not  an  abstract 
entity  separate  in  existence  from  the  stream  of  con- 
sciousness itself,  but  that  it  is  the  energetic  or  respon- 
sive element  in  the  consciousness  itself ;  further,  that 
there  is  no  will  apart  from  the  presence  both  of  ideas 
and  of  feelings.  Now  when  the  conscious  organism 
by  its  own  will  influences  its  own  making  and  that  of 
its  kind,  the  process  is  that  of  attention  to  ideas. 
The  attention  in  some  cases  is  involuntary;  in  critical 
cases  of  highest  import  to  man  and  his  future,  the  at- 
tention is  voluntary.  Exclusive  attention  to  an  idea 
means  corresponding  conduct.  The  control  of  one's 
thoughts  is  the  secret  of  all  individual  attainment. 

M 

Ihe  deeds  of  conscious  men  are  the  expressions  in 
the  outward  world  of  the  thoughts  to  which  they 
inwardly  consent.^Otherwise  they  are  not  in  a  re- 
sponsible condition,  not  themselves,  though  indeed 
they  may  be  responsible  for  not  being  themselves,  as 
a  drunken  man  is  irresponsible  in  conduct,  but  he  is 
responsible  for  being  drunk. 

Thoughts  then  lead  to  deeds,  and  deeds  through  From 
repetition  lead  to  habits,  and  our  habits  taken  together  *1  * 

are  our  character,  and  our  character  leads  by  cause 
and  effect  to  our  destiny.  Character  is  what  we  are ; 


124  Idealism  in  Education 

destiny  is  what  we  are  becoming ;  it  is  not  fixed  for 
each  individual,  but  is  in  process  of  being  fixed  by 
himself  in  relation  to  his  inheritance  and  his  circum- 
stances. The  trouble  is  not  in  our  stars,  but  in  our- 
selves, if  we  are  total  failures ;  partial  failures  may 
be  blamed  on  heredity  or  circumstance.  Where  there 
is  no  will  there  is  no  way,  however  great  the  capacity, 
however  inviting  the  opportunity.  Even  where  there 
is  a  will,  heredity  may  have  blocked  the  way.  These 
are  the  links  in  the  chain  of  life  from  simplest  begin- 
ning in  thought  to  sublimest  conclusion  or  utmost  fail- 
ure in  destiny.  And  we  have  power  over  our  thoughts. 
The  in-  I  would  not  have  it  appear  that  all  human  conduct 

LO"~SU^  is  traceable  to  conscious  decisions,  only  the  highest 
of  win.  and  best  is  so  traceable;  perhaps  the  most  of  human 
conduct  is  rooted  in  such  lower  stages  of  will  as  in- 
stinct, impulse,  imitation,  suggestion,  and  the  like ,  in 
which  response  is  indeed  present,  but  not  much  self- 
control  and  self-direction.  Our  concern  here  is  not 
so  much  to  show  the  nature  and  development  of  will,1 
as  its  place  in  man-making. 

Titcheoer  In  view  of  the  strategic  importance  attached  to  at- 

onAttendon.  tentjon  'm  the  preceding  discussion,  let  me  refer  to 
the  judgment  of  a  specialist  in  this  subject.  Pro- 
fessor Titchener  in  his  notable  contribution  writes: 
"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  doctrine  of  attention  is  of 
fundamental  importance.  And  I  believe  that  the 
strength  of  Wundt's  system  lies  —  and  will  lie,  his- 
torically —  in  the  fact  of  its  being  an  attentional  sys- 
tem, whether  its  special  teaching  is  right  or  wrong. 
A  system  which  makes  little  of  attention  is,  in  my 
1  CL  my  «  Psychological  Principle!  of  Education,"  Part  IV. 


Will  and  Education  125 

judgment,  foredoomed  to  failure."  1  The  present  dis- 
cussion is  in  full  agreement  with  this  point  of  view. 
But  Professor  Titchener,  in  truly  scientific  fashion, 
finds  the  nature  of  attention  to  be  "sensory  clear- 
ness,"  and  this  mental  quality  to  be  itself  conditioned 
by  the  nervous  system.  He  says,  "  I  will  only  sug- 
gest, then,  that  the  common  element  which,  empiri- 
cally, holds  all  the  conditions  together  —  the  ultimate 
condition  of  clearness  at  large  —  may  be  designated 
as  nervous  disposition,  predisposition  of  the  nervous 
system  and  its  sensory  attachments. "2  Professor 
Titchener  is  writing  entirely  without  pedagogical  in- 
terests and  from  the  parallelistic  standpoint  that  ex- 
cludes mental  causation.  I  differ  from  Titchener, 
first  of  all,  in  standpoint,  having  both  pedagogy  and 
idealism  at  heart.  This  standpoint  does  not  require 
me  to  explain  away  the  nature  of  attention  in  its  first 
intent.  "Sensory  clearness "  is  to  me  an  effect  of 
attention,  not  its  nature.  Attention  is  a  strain  in  con- 
sciousness, not  the  consciousness  of  a  strain.  In- 
voluntary attention,  consciousness,  puts  the  strain  upon 
itself.  It  is  just  here  that  human  destinies  hinge. 

Our  ultimate  aim  is  to  find  the  practical  first  princi-  7.  The  Prac- 
ples  of  man-making.     To  this  end  we  have  analyzed  gearings  of 
heredity,  environment,  and  now  will.     We  want  to  thisDis- 
control  these  forces,  so  far  as  we  can,  by  education, 
and  otherwise,  in  the  interest  of  present  individuals 
and  the  future  race.     In  the  two  preceding  chapters 

1  Titchener,  "The  Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention,"  N.  Y.,  1908, 
P-  353- 

2  Op.  cit.>  p.  206. 


126 


Idealism  in  Education 


The  Edu- 
cation of  the 
Will. 


The  Aim  in 
Educating 
the  Will 


Sonalmng 
the  In- 
dividual. 


I  TV;  ITIOUaJ- 

Uing  Society. 


we  have  seen  how  education  may  control  heredity 
and  environment  through  eugenics  and  eutopias.  We 
have  now  to  inquire  how,  in  Huxley's  phrase,  we  may 
make  "  volition  count  for  something  as  a  condition  of 
the  course  of  events."  Education  can  help  to  make 
men  and  women  by  building  good  wills.  How  can 
this  be  done  ? 

In  considering  the  right  way  to  educate  the  will, 
first  of  all  the  aim  must  be  had  in  mind.  The  aim  in 
educating  the  will  is  twofold,  to  socialize  it  and  to 
effectualize  it.  Socializing  the  will  makes  it  rii;ht, 
and  effectualizing  it  makes  it  capable.  Many  good 
people  are  inefficient,  and  many  efficient  people 
not  good.  We  need  good  people  who  are  efficient 
and  efficient  people  who  are  good.  Education  should 
aim  to  build  the  right  will  and  the  capable  will.  As 
Ruskin  says,  "Education  does  not  mean  teaching 
people  to  know  what  they  do  not  know.  It  means 
teaching  them  to  behave  as  they  do  not  behave.'1 1 

It  is  very  common  in  educational  theory  to-day  to 
emphasize  the  socializing  of  the  individual,  and,  what 
amounts  to  the  same  thing,  the  adjustment  of  the 
individual  to  his  social  inheritance  from  the  racial 
past  This  process  makes  men  fit  members  of 
present  society,  and  it  is  necessary  to  emphasize  it. 

But  we  need  to  recognize  that  education  is  the 
individualizing  of  society  as  well  as  the  socializing 
of  the  individual.  The  individualizing  of  society 
makes  men  efficient,  as  the  socializing  of  the  individ- 
ual makes  men  good.  The  individualizing  of  so 
makes  leaders  of  society,  as  the  socializing  of  the 

i  Ruskin,  "The  Future  of  England,"  §  144,  in  "The  Crown  of  Wild 


Will  and  Education  127 

individual  makes  fit  members  of  society.  To  adjust 
the  individual  to  society  is  a  stabilizing  process, 
tending  to  preserve  the  ancient  social  institutions ;  to 
adjust  society  to  the  efficient  leader  is  a  process 
making  for  progress,  tending  to  increase  the  social 
values.  For  education  simply  to  adjust  men  to 
society  would  be  indeed  valuable  conservation,  but 
for  education  also  to  adjust  society  to  the  capable 
individual  means  progress.  It  is  the  business  of 
education  to  make  capable  leaders  as  well  as  good 
followers,  to  make  the  will  efficient  as  well  as  right. 
It  is  the  leaders  of  the  race  who  have  set  the  pace  of 
progress,  —  Socrates,  Jesus,  Paul,  Savonarola,  Luther. 

We  must  next  inquire  concerning   the   principles  Principles  in 
that   are   to   guide   us   as  we  seek  by  education  to  ^wm^ 
socialize    individuals,  and  to    individualize     society. 
How  shall  we  educate  the  will  ? 

(i)   The   first   education   of   the    will    should    be  The  indirect 
indirect,  i.e.,  it  should  reach  the  will  by  action  rather  011 

than  by  ideas.  The  emphasis  belongs  on  action  rather 
than  on  ideas  certainly  till  adolescence;  Aristotle 
said  till  thirty.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  emo- 
tional and  volitional  parts  of  the  nature  of  children 
predominate  over  the  intellectual,  if  indeed  this  be 
not  true  throughout  life  for  most  people.  Adequate 
foundations  must  be  laid  by  the  indirect  methods. 
Study  instincts,  learn  to  recognize  their  presence,  give 
them  proper  material  upon  which  to  develop,  bring 
them  out  and  direct  them  aright ;  it  means  happiness 
to  children.  Study  impulses,  associating  pleasure  with 
the  good  ones  and  pain  with  the  bad  ones.  In  life 
both  good  and  bad  things  give  pleasure  at  times,  and 


128  Idealism  in  Education 

also  pain  at  times.  In  young  life  pleasure  and  pain 
are  the  dominant  motives.  It  is  therefore  all-important 
in  the  moral  education  of  children  that  parents  and 
teachers  indissolubly  associate  pleasure  with  good 
and  pain  with  bad.  Even  then  duties  will  sometimes 
be  painful  and  evils  pleasurable,  owing  to  human 
imperfection.  The  ideal  moral  character  finds  its 
highest  pleasure  in  doing  the  right  and  its  sharpest 
pain  in  doing  the  wrong.  Nothing  is  more  confusing 
in  moral  education  than  to  reward  evil  and  punish 
good.  In  later  years  children  can  be  taught  that  the 
highest  virtue  is  always  its  own  reward  and  sometimes 
involves  sacrificing  lesser  goods. 

Aristotle  on         ^n   connection   with    this    thought  of  associating 
Moral  pleasure  and  pain  with  good  and  evil  respectively,  I , 

cannot  do  better  than  transcribe  a  paragraph  from 
the  second  book  of  Aristotle's  Ethics,  as  follows : 
,  "We  must  take  the  pleasures    and    pains    that 

supervene  upon  our  actions  as  symptoms  of  our 
condition.  The  man  who  abstains  from  bodily 
pleasures  and  actually  enjoys  doing  so^  temperate, 
while  the  man  who  does  so  but  dislik^k  is  intem- 
perate. The  man  who  faces  danger  and  enjoys  it, 
or  at  any  rate  is  not  pained  by  it,  is  brave  ;  but  the 
man  who  faces  it  with  pain  is  a  coward.  For  goodness 
of  character  has  to  do  with  pleasures  and  pains.  It 
is  pleasure  that  makes  us  do  what  is  bad,  and  ]>  tin 
that  makes  us  abstain  from  what  is  right.  That  is 
why  we  require  to  be  trained  from  our  earliest  youth, 
as  Plato  has  it,  to  feel  pleasure  and  pain  at  the  right 
things.  True  education  is  just  that."1 

1  Bur  net,  "  Aristotle  on  Education,"  Cambridge,  1905,  pp.  48-49. 


Will  and  Education  129 

Upon  this  passage  the  comment  of  the  editor  is : 
"  This  is  the  best  account  of  the  training  of  character 
that  has  ever  been  given  and  should  be  engraved  in 
the  heart  of  every  educator."  * 

In  this  indirect  education  provide  good  models  at  Models.  » 
all  times,  material  and  personal,  for  unconscious  and 
conscious  imitation.     Children  learn  more  from  what 
we  are  than  from  what  we  say.     We  teach  them  more 
by  our  deeds  than  in  our  creeds. 

Fill  the  mind  with  uplifting  suggestions,2  with  Suggestions.  ' 
ideas  and  deeds  so  deftly  presented  that  the  following 
of  them  is  effortless,  while  avoiding  those  suggestions 
that  like  poison  rankle  and  spread  in  the  system  till 
all  be  contaminated.  Suggestions  that  bear  fruit 
touch  such  subjects  as  where  to  go,  what  to  do,  how 
and  what  to  read,  what  to  see  and  hear,  with  what 
and  whom  to  associate,  and  the  like,  avoiding  the 
while  negative  suggestions.  M 

Form  the  right  habits  from  the  outset.  Do  the  Habits, 
deeds  one  by  one  that  mean  the  virtues.  Only  so 
can  the  virtues  be  formed.  The  virtues  are  an  ac- 
quisition ;.1^y  can  be  acquired  only  by  doing  the 
very  deeds  that  flow  from  the  virtues.  To  quote 
Aristotle  again,  "...  it  is  by  doing  just  acts  that 
we  become  just,  by  doing  temperate  acts  that  we 
become  temperate,  and  by  doing  brave  deeds  that  we 
become  brave."3  It  is  neither  desirable  nor  necessary 
that  the  basis  of  habit  should  be  reasoned  into  before 
the  habits  are  formed.  It  is  enough  in  all  these 
efforts  at  the  indirect  education  of  the  will  that  the 

1  Burnet,  "  Aristotle  on  Education,"  p.  49,  note. 

2  Cf.  Keatinge,  "  Suggestion  in  Education."  8  Op.  cit.,  p.  45. 

K 


130  Idealism  in  Education 

questions  of  children  be  answered  as  simply  and  in- 
telligibly as  possible  without  feeling  constrained  to 
raise  ethical  questionings  one's  self.  Morals  are  con- 
duct ;  ethics  the  science  of  conduct ;  morals  should  pre- 
•  cede  ethics.  He  who  is  moral  either  understands  eth- 
ics or  can  easily  come  to  do  so  ;  he  whose  morals  are 
not  yet  habits  cannot  intellectually  realize  ethics. 
To  teach  ethics  systematically  to  children  is  likely  to 
rub  the  bloom  off  of  moral  issues  and  to  induce  that 
precocity  in  the  deep  things  of  the  spirit  so  disastrous 
everywhere  in  later  years. 

The  Use  of  (2)  Use  the  object-lesson  method  in  morals. 
Such  instruction  is  to  be  occasional,  as  the  suitable 
object-lesson  naturally  arises,  not  systematic.  The 
object-lesson  justifies  its  use  in  moral  as  well  as  in 
other  types  of  instruction  ;  it  is  concrete,  simple,  sen- 
sible, obvious,  actual.  Praise  the  good  act  when  and 
where  it  occurred.  Say  little  about  the  bad,  except  as  a 
rare  warning.  Praise  is  a  great  stimulus  to  children  ; 
indifference  leaves  them  indifferent;  and  blame  consid- 
erably hinders  best  work.  The  atmosphere  of  pleasure 
increases  efficiency  in  every  line.  Perhaps  all  the  vir- 
tues may  be  started  through  some  appropriate  object- 
lesson,  if  we  will  but  watch  for  it :  sanitation,  cleanliness 
of  body,  hands,  face,  teeth,  purity  of  thought,  speech, 
and  act,  courtesy,  honor,  chivalry,  and  respect  for  age.1] 
The  happy  use  of  the  story  in  realizing  the  virtues 
concretely  is  closely  associated  with  the  object-lesson. 
(3)  Suggest  the  power  of  the  will.  Particularly 
if  you  believe  that  effort  is  a  variable  quantity,  mid 

!Cf.  J.  T.  White,  "Character- Lessons  in   American   Biogra; 
N.Y.,  1909. 


Will  and  Education  131 

not  once  for  all  fixed  as  each  occasion  for  its  use  suggest  the 
arises.  Pupils  often  can,  if  they  only  will,  and  many  £?.?jer  of 
times  they  can  will.  Effort  is  something  to  be  put 
forth.  You  do  not  know  what  you  can  do  in  a  new 
field  till  you  really  try,  and  try  hard,  and  try  long. 
Practice  counts  for  much  in  mastery.  It  is  good  to 
believe  you  can  do  what  it  is  your  duty  to  do ;  you 
will  do  better  for  believing  in  yourself.  Auto-sug- 
gestion plays  a  large  r61e  in  success ;  tell  yourself 
that  you  can  succeed,  and  make  the  necessary  prep- 
aration for  doing  so.  Not  that  by  auto-suggestion 
we  are  to  blind  ourselves  to  our  own  limits,  but  that  we 
may  approximate  our  limits.  No  one  knows  in  ad- 
vance of  the  actual  strain  what  he  can  really  do.1 

(4)  Insist  on  effort  from  the  beginning.  If  effort  insist  on 
means  what  our  preceding  analysis  has  indicated,  Effort- 
that  it  finally  counts  in  the  making  of  the  characters 
and  destinies  of  people,  we  are  justified  in  acquainting 
our  children  and  pupils  with  effort,  even  under  com- 
pulsion, if  necessary.  Effort  is  not  a  popular  word 
in  the  interest-loving,  deterministic,  Herbartian  tradi- 
tions in  educational  theory  and  practice,  but  we  can 
never  outgrow  effort  so  long  as  duties  sometimes  prove 
disagreeable.  It  is  too  ideal  for  our  present  world  to 
discard  all  effort  and  be  what  one's  pleasures  allow. 
Children  must  be  restrained  and  commanded  as  well  as 
enticed.  To  do  otherwise  is  to  follow  blindly  the  deep 
intimations  of  "  the  century  of  the"  child/' 2  and  put 
children  over  parents  and  parents  under  children. 

1  Cf.  James,  "The   Powers   of  Men,"  American  Magazine,  Nov., 
1907;   and  Payot,  "The  Education  of  the  Will,"  N.  Y.,  1909. 

2  Cf.  Miss  Key,  "The  Education  of  the  Child,"  N.  Y.,  1910. 


Idealism  in  Education 


Effort  and 

Pleasure  not 

In- 

consistent. 


Discipline. 


Even  the  kindergarten  is  none  too  early  for  initial 
efforts,  in  order  both  to  achieve  and  to  refrain. 
There  is  no  accomplishment  and  no  self-control  with- 
out effort  Schools  must  indeed  be  as  pleasurable  as 
we  can  make  them,  but  highest  pleasures  result  from 
mastering  difficulties.  To  do  as  one  pleases  gives 
indeed  a  selfish  pleasure,  but  to  do  as  one  ought, 
even  at  the  cost  of  effort  and  the  sacrifice  of  lesser 
goods,  gives  worthy  pleasure.  Even  if  we  want 
homes  and  schools  to  be  pleasurable,  they  must  be 
places  of  effortful  wrestling.  Children  may  do  what 
they  want  to  do  so  long  as  what  they  want  to  do  is 
right,  but  it  will  sometimes  be  right  for  them  to  do 
what  they  do  not  want  to  do ;  then  they  must.  In 
the  rearing  of  children  it  is  fatal  to  dispense  with  the 
"  must "  ;  if  you  will  recollect  the  cases  where  it  was 
tried  you  will  agree  with  me,  beginning  perhaps  with 
Emile.  Nor  will  even  adults  ever  outgrow  entirely 
effort  and  duty ;  by  great  drops  of  sweat  as  of  blood 
must  they  at  times  save  themselves  and  others.  Per- 
haps we,  on  first  thought  at  least,  should  not  have 
made  costly  effort  a  precondition  of  worthy  character, 
but  this  is  the  unalterable  constitution  of  things  as 
we  find  them.  Tasks  then  must  be  assigned  and 
done,  without  the  sense  of  effort,  if  indeed  the  chil- 
dren so  love  their  duties,  but  with  it,  if  necessary.  A 
critic  of  Eliot's  "  five-foot  shelf  of  books"  remarked : 
"  A  weary  task  for  aspiring  youth  "  ;  to  which  another 
replied :  "  If  aspiring  youth  is  not  ready  for  weary 
tasks,  it  had  better  stop  aspiring." 

(5)  Right  discipline.  If  you  have  children  that 
are  well  born  and  are  placed  in  appropriate  surround- 


Will  and  Education  133 

ings,  it  is  easy  to  manage  them,  if  you  know  how, 
and  are  born  with  a  will  of  your  own.  The  secret  in 
managing  children  in  home  and  school  is  to  know 
exactly  what  you  want ;  that  this  thing  should  be 
right  in  itself ;  that  you  should  make  it  very  plain 
to  the  children ;  that  you  should  be  gentle  but  firm, 
consistent,  and  insistent ;  that  finally,  in  case  of  need, 
you  show  and  even  use  power.  Perhaps  in  the 
school  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  "  power  "  make  use 
of  the  rod ;  in  the  home,  with  most  children,  physical 
force  of  some  kind  will  be  necessary.  Those  who 
were  themselves  so  fortunate  as  to  be  raised  in  this 
way  will  know  how  well  it  works  in  securing  the 
indispensable  virtue  of  obedience  among  children. 
Right  discipline  is  for  the  good  of  the  individual 
concerned  primarily ;  for  the  good  of  others  second- 
arily. Historically  we  have  homes  and  schools  be- 
cause of  children,  not  children  because  of  homes  and 
schools.  The  child  brought  the  institutions  into  being. 
They  exist  for  him.  But  they  exist  for  him  in  his 
ideal,  universal,  rational,  potential  selfhood,  not  in 
his  unorganized,  whimsical,  capricious,  and  chaotic 
individuality,  except  indeed  to  bring  order  by  right 
training  out  of  such  chaos.  We  are  enthroning 
children  to-day,  not  in  the  name  of  what  they  are, 
but  in  the  name  of  what  by  right  treatment  they  may 
become  and  may  enable  the  race  to  become.  The 
children  are  our  hope. 

(6)  The  curriculum.     The  purpose  of  any  subject  The 
in  the  curriculum   is,    first,  to  acquaint   pupils  with  Cumculum- 
some  set  of  naturalistic  or  social  facts,  and,  second, 
to  give  some  ideas  rightly  regulative  of  conduct.     It 


134  Idealism  in  Education 

is  the  second  purpose  of  any  subject  in  the  curriculum 
that  we  have  in  mind  here.  Any  subject  serves  the 
first  purpose,  but  subjects  serve  unequally  the  second 
purpose.  The  subjects  that  serve  it  best  are  naturally 
the  social,  in  distinction  from  the  naturalistic.  His- 
tory, for  example,  is,  from  one  standpoint  at  least,  a 
series  of  vast  experiments  in  living.  Through  its 
study  we  may  learn  the  ways  of  failure  and  of  suc- 
cess. Nations,  as  a  rule,  have  shown  us  the  ways  of 
failure;  some  individuals  the  ways  of  success.  Thus 
through  history,  in  addition  to  the  facts,  one  may 
learn  what  he  may  safely  imitate,  and  what  he  must 
reject  Also  nations  may  learn  the  broad  ways  of 
failure  and  the  narrow  way  of  success.  Biographies 
and  autobiographies  quicken  our  admiration,  arouse 
our  sympathy,  stir  our  indignation,  stimulate  our  am- 
bition. History  primarily  is  a  record  of  the  do 
of  man,  but  secondarily  it  is  moral  philosophy  teach- 
ing by  example.  The  practical  influence  of  the  study 
of  history  touches  the  will  particularly.1 

Literature  is  a  product  mainly  of  the  emotions  and 
the  imagination.  Since  the  emotions  and  the  will  are 
so  intimately  related,  the  study  of  literature  also  helps 
to  form  the  character.  In  literature  we  see  types  and 
ideals,  not  actual  occurrences.  Fiction  is  less  strange 
than  truth  because  it  represents  the  universal,  not  the 
individual,  human  nature.  Poetry  is  truer  than  his- 
tory, in  the  sense  that  it  expresses  the  feelings  of 
man,  not  of  men  ;  it  is  general,  not  local.  For  these 

lCf.  Bourne,  "The  Teaching  of  History  and  Civics,"  N.  Y.,  1902. 
Keatinge,  M.  W.,  "  Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  History,"  London,  1910. 
Lamprecht,  ••  What  is  History?  "  N.  Y.,  1905. 


Will  and  Education  135 

very  reasons  literature  exerts  a  beneficial  influence  on 
character,  revealing  human  nature  in  its  broad  outlines 
and  in  its  ideality.  To  compass  in  one's  appreciation 
the  characters  in  literature  and  the  sentiments  of  the 
poets  is  to  enlarge  one's  personality  to  truly  human 
dimensions.  To  exclude  literature  and  think  only  the 
thoughts  of  the  moment,  suggested  only  by  the  prosaic 
routine  of  earning  one's  living,  is  to  drop  below  the 
line  of  human  privilege  and  become  but  little  above  the 
creatures  whose  eyes  see  only  the  earth. 

Of  the  subjects  requiring  the  use  of  the  body  and  Manual 
bearing  on  the  development  of  character,  let  me  refer  Jrawinf. and 
particularly  to  manual  training  and  drawing.  In  these 
subjects  the  ideas  of  honesty  and  accuracy  are  realized 
in  concrete  instances ;  likewise  the  value  of  these  at- 
tainments. Perhaps  the  habits  of  honesty  and  ac- 
curacy in  expressing  one's  self  in  material  ways  are 
formed,  though  such  habits  may  not  take  possession 
of  other  ways  of  self-expression.  Best  of  all,  per- 
haps, jstudents  fall  in  love /with  the  ideas  of  honesty 
and  accuracy,  making  of 'them  ideals,  and  as  such 
finding  them  universally  regulative.  People  who 
deal  exclusively  with  words,  such  as  language-stu- 
dents and  philologists,  tend  to  become  unreal  and 
unpractical  persons ;  on  the  other  hand,  people  who 
handle  things,  and  who,  though  grown,  still  play,  are 
very  real,  life-like,  and  human  personalities. 

To  the  Herbartians  we  are  indebted  for  the  insight 
that  every  subject  studied  can  and  should  influence 
moral  character,  but  we  must  leave  to  the  reader  at 
this  point  the  task  of  applying  his  own  subject,  what- 
ever it  be,  to  the  building  of  the  will. 


136 


Idealism  in  Education 


Direct 

Ethical 
Instruc- 
tion. 


Its  Weak- 

ness. 


(7)  Direct  ethical  instruction.  In  our  country, 
where  the  truths  of  religion  cannot  be  taught  system- 
atically in  the  public  schools,  for  good  and  sufficient 
reasons,  as  we  think,  it  is  the  more  important  that  ethics 
be  taught  But  this  recommendation  is  no  simple 
matter.  The  fact  that  we  are  discussing  it  so  late  in 
this  series  shows  it  is  not  the  thing  to  begin  with  in 
developing  character.  Furthermore,  we  cannot  rely 
upon  it  implicitly ;  if  pupils  have  been  rightly  trained 
before  studying  ethics,  they  will  hardly  need  ethics  to 
make  them  do  right ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  pupils  are  not 
good,  ethics  will  hardly  make  them  so.  The  fact  is 
that  ethics  is  a  science;  it  reaches  the  intellect,  but  the 
springs  of  character  are  the  emotions  and  the  will.  If 
ethics  degenerates  into  exhortation,  the  net  is  being 
spread  in  the  sight  of  the  bird ;  Christianity  has  dis- 
covered how  hard  it  is  to  reform  the  world  by  preach- 
ing. France  has  been  teaching  ethics  in  its  schools 
for  a  generation,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  thereby 
forming  the  moral  character,  but  crime  has  continued 
to  increase  and  the  birth-rate  has  continued  to  decrease, 
while  one  French  teacher  was  able  to  report  in  answer 
to  a  question  concerning  the  influence  of  ethics  on 
character,  "  My  best  scholar  in  ethics  is  the  greatest 
knave  in  the  lot."  The  world  is  filled  with  people 
who  know  what  is  right  and  do  what  is  wrong.  The 
ignorant  may  be  vicious  on  a  small  scale;  the  know- 
ing are  wicked  on  a  vast  scale.  The  ignorant  harbor 
the  vices  that  destroy  the  individual ;  the  knowing  the 
sins  that  destroy  society.  The  brutish  man  attacks 
your  person  directly ;  the  cunning  man  attacks  you 
indirectly  by  preying  on  the  social  structure.  It  is 


Will  and  Education  137 

not  enough  that  men  shall  know  what  is  right ;  they 
must  also  will  to  do  it.  Ethics  gives  the  former ;  it 
does  not  always  give  the  latter. 

Why  then  teach  ethics?  Because,  though  knowl-  its  strength, 
edge  does  not  insure  right  action,  there  can  be  no 
right  action  without  knowledge.  Because,  too,  know- 
ing the  right,  through  the  motor-tendency  of  ideas,  is  at 
least  a  temptation  to  do  it.  That  man  is  actively  bad, 
morally  depraved,  who  sins  against  the  light  he  has. 
Ethics  turns  the  light  on ;  it  cannot  make  men  prefer 
darkness  to  light. 

Professor  Palmer,  a  life-time  college  teacher  of  Professor 
ethics,  is  our  best  critic  of  direct  ethical  instruction.1 
He  taught  me  to  disagree  with  him.  I  cannot  go 
all  the  way  with  him  in  his  rejection  of  ethical 
instruction  below  the  college;  firstly,  because  of 
that  characteristic  of  the  teacher  he  himself  has 
both  exemplified  and  described,  viz.,  the  ability  to 
transmute  ideas  into  life ;  secondly,  because  the 
doubting  period  of  adolescence  demands  some  sys- 
tematic enlightenment ;  thirdly,  the  high  school,  as  the 
people's  college,  must  do  what  it  can  for  the  people's 
morals. 

As  already  suggested  in  discussing  the  object-  How  Ethics 
lesson  in  morals,  a  bit  of  ethical  instruction  may 
be  given  at  appropriate  occasions  as  they  arise 
anywhere,  in  the  home,  on  the  street,  in  the  school. 
Particularly  may  an  elective  course  be  given  in  the 
senior  year  of  the  high  school.  By  this  time  pupils 
have  some  habits  of  right  conduct,  some  experience 

1  Palmer,  G.  H.,   "The  Teacher,"  Boston,  1908.      "Ethical  and 
Moral  Instruction  in  Schools,"  Boston,  1909. 


138  Idealism  in  Education 

of  conscience,  and  some  feelings  of  duty.  This  is 
the  concrete  material  to  use.  The  familiar  social 
situations  give  opportunity  for  applying  new  ethical 
insights.  Ethics  should  be  taught  in  closest  relation 
to  the  moral  situations  in  life  ;  any  resolutions  formed 
should  straightway  act  themselves  out,  not  be  stored 
for  future  reference.  One  teacher  of  ethics  to  adoles- 
cents I  know  is  heartily  committed  to  the  idea  of 
direct  ethical  instruction.  It  is  a  difficult  feat  to 
tell  young  people  what  they  ought  to  do  and  why 
they  ought  to  do  it,  in  such  a  way  that  they  "  receive 
with  meekness  the  engrafted  word,"  and,  as  in  so 
many  other  instances,  the  worth  of  the  issue  depends 
on  who  the  teacher  is.  In  any  case  he  will  do  well 
to  heed,  and  to  admonish  his  pupils  to  heed,  the 
words  of  Clough  : 

"  Play  no  tricks  upon  thy  soul,  O  Man, 
Let  fact  be  (act  and  life  the  thing  it  can." 

Allow  (8)  Allow  choices.     If  choice  plays  the  determin- 

Cboices.  *ng  r£jc  jn  character-formation  we  have  assigned  it, 
young  people  should  be  allowed  to  make  choices 
for  themselves.  Of  course,  older  people  usually 
know  better,  but  many  young  people  do  not  think 
so;  older  people  would  save  their  children  and 
pupils  from  foolish  choices ;  in  order  to  do  so,  they 
practically  exclude  choice  from  the  lives  of  their 
charges.  This  is  a  mistake.  Beginning  with  tender 
years,  children  should  be  allowed  to  choose  for  them- 
selves in  some  matters,  under  parental  advice,  but 
not  under  parental  compulsion.  It  trains  in  the 
sense  of  responsibility  and  in  self-control.  Neither 


Will  and  Education  139 

home  nor  school  should  assume  all  responsibility 
for  children.  To  a  degree  they  should  be  permitted 
to  rely  upon  themselves.  Children  really  enjoy  little 
responsibilities  and  being  trusted  to  do  important v 
things.  The  private  boarding-school,  keeping  boys 
or  girls  day  and  night,  and  usually  under  supervision, 
is  in  particular  danger  of  breeding  irresponsibility. 
Important  matters  in  which  children  and  young 
people  should  be  allowed  some  freedom  of  choice 
are,,  how  to  apportion  one's  time,  how  to  spend 
one's  earnings,  what  studies  to  pursue,  how  to  show 
friendship  for  one's  associates,  etc.  The  spontaneous 
interests  of  children,  their  real  preferences,  may  well 
be  allowed  free  play  for  development,  so  long  as  the 
rights  of  others  are  not  infringed. 

This  brings  me  to  the  particular  matter  of  "  break-  Never  Break 
ing  a  child's  will."  This  usually  means  compelling  WIIL 
him  to  follow  the  parent's  choice  rather  than  his  own. 
It  is  better  not  to  join  this  issue,  not  to  conquer  a 
child.  Anticipate  the  issue  ;  if  the  matter  be  impor- 
tant, decide  it  yourself  in  advance  before  allowing  the 
child  to  reach  or  state  his  decision ;  if  the  matter  is 
not  over-important,  leave  him  to  decide  for  himself, 
even  at  some  risk.  If  in  an  important  matter  the 
child's  will  is  fixed,  do  not  so  much  cross  as  circum- 
vent him.  Children  raised  in  abject  submission  to 
parents  become  tyrants  as  adults ;  those  whose  wills 
were  never  broken,  whose  spirits  were  never  crushed 
within  them,  make  forceful  and  resolute  characters. 
If  you  would  make  weak  and  irresolute  men  and 
women,  break  their  wills  as  children. 

There  are  many  things  about  educating  wills  that 


140 


Idealism  in  Education 


The  Third 
Principle  of 
Man-Mak- 
ing. 


Summary  of 
th<:  Ele- 
ments of 
Man-Making. 


we  must  leave  to  the  literature  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter  to  discuss.  Perhaps  enough  has  been  said  to 
prove  that  wills  help  to  make  men  and  women,  that 
these  wills  are  fashionable  by  education  during  the 
susceptible  years,  that  they  are  ever  subject  to  self- 
culture,  and  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  we  are  worthy 
or  unworthy  characters,  not  according  to  our  gifts,  or 
to  our  circumstances,  but  according  to  our  wills.  Our 
talents  may  be  five,  two,  or  one  ;  this  is  heredity ;  the 
market-place  is  there  in  the  environment  for  all  alike ; 
our  reward  or  condemnation  depends  on  the  use  we 
will  to  make  of  our  talents. 

We  have  found  the  individual  will  to  be  the  third 
of  the  great  trio  of  forces  that  make  men  and  women. 
This  on  the  theoretical  side.  On  the  practical  side, 
we  have  already  seen  how  education  can  possess  it- 
self of  the  influence  of  heredity,  in  eugenics ;  also  how 
education  can  possess  itself  of  the  influence  of  envi- 
ronment, in  eutopias.  We  have  just  seen  how  edu- 
cation can  form  the  will.  This  result  gives  us  the 
third  of  the  first  principles  in  the  making  of  men  and 
women,  which  we  may  name,  borrowing  a  Greek  word, 
eunoias:  make  the  will  good.  The  good  will  is  right 
in  its  motivation  and  efficient  in  its  execution.  And, 
as  Kant  said,  it  is  the  only  thing  of  absolute  valu 
this  world. 

In  brief,  at  this  point  we  may  summarize  the  i 
ments  of  man-making  as  follows :  Heredity  bestows 
capacity,  unchangeable  in  the  individual,  but  subject 
to  improvement  in  the  race  by  the  right  selection  of 
life- partners.  Environment  provides  opportunity. 
Will  by  effort  realizes  the  inherited  capacity  and 


Will  and  Education  141 

utilizes  the  environing  opportunity.  If  we  think  of 
the  unconceived  generation,  it  is  fitting  to  emphasize 
heredity  ;  if  we  think  of  the  children  of  to-day,  it  is 
fitting  to  emphasize  environment  ;  if  we  think  of  ado- 
lescents and  adults,  it  is  fitting  to  emphasize  will. 

Is  it  possible  to  reduce  to  two  or  even  to  one  these  A  Problem  : 
elements  of  man-making  ?     If  our  implications  con- 


cerning  effort  be  accepted,  it  is  impossible  to  eliminate  Reduced  in 
will.  By  making  the  living  cell  a  product  of  inani- 
mate forces,  some  have  reduced  heredity  to  environ- 
ment; but  the  best  biological  opinion  to-day  seems  to 
know  no  origin  of  the  cell  but  the  cell,  giving  a  kind  of 
past  immortality  to  cell-life,  and  retaining  heredity  as 
a  primary  factor  in  the  making  of  organisms.  Others, 
by  denying  the  permanent  influence  of  environment 
on  the  later  generations,  allowing  only  its  temporary 
influence  on  the  passing  generation,  that  is,  by  deny- 
ing the  inheritance  of  acquired  characters,  have  mini- 
mized environment  and  magnified  heredity  ;  but  again 
the  best  present  biological  opinion  seems  to  allow  that 
the  effects  of  use  and  disuse  are  passed  on  to  the  later 
generations,  though  the  specific  modifications  are  not, 
thus  retaining  environment  as  a  permanent  factor  in 
producing  living  creatures.  On  the  basis  of  science, 
therefore,  we  are  hardly  able  to  eliminate  either 
heredity  or  environment.  Whether  in  our  last  chap- 
ter these  irreducible  three  can  be  considered  as  ele- 
ments in  one  synthetic  whole  remains  to  be  seen. 

Which  of  the  three  is  most  influential?     Where  Another 
each  appears  as  essential,  the  answer  is  most  difficult  The 


and  perhaps  not  important.     Without  heredity,  no  influential 

,...„.«  ,  .       .  Element? 

beginning;    without    environment,    no    continuing; 


142  Idealism  in  Education 

without  will,  no  individuality.  The  lower  organisms 
have  little  individuality ;  with  them  heredity  and 
environment  explain  most  With  man  individuality 
is  striking;  will  is  prominent,  but  can  only  in  part 
explain  him.  I  am  inclined  to  attach  most  importance 
to  heredity  and  least  to  will ;  but  the  importance  I 
attach  to  will  is  crucial,  particularly  as  regards  what 
will  can  do  in  shaping  future  heredity  by  eugenics. 
The  R6te  The  school  is  our  most  usable  institution  in  race- 

in  R&?*  l  building,  but  it  has  not  been  much  used.  It  receives 
Building.  children  coming  with  all  kinds  of  heredity  and  from 
all  kinds  of  environment  But  protoplasm  is  unstable, 
and  the  nervous  system  of  the  young  is  plastic.  The 
work  of  the  school  in  building  a  better  race  of  men 
and  women  is,  first,  to  give  instruction  in,  and  to 
illustrate  in  the  examples  of  school  officers  and 
teachers,  the  principles  of  eugenics ;  second,  to  pro- 
vide the  best  possible  environment  in  which  children 
may  learn  and  grow,  —  in  short,  eutopias  ;  and  third, 
to  cultivate  good  wills,  ready  to  follow  true  leaders  or 
lead  distressed  followers,  —  in  short,  eunoias.  . 

We  have  now  considered  the  phenomenal  elements 
entering  into  the  constitution  of  human  nature,  that 
is,  the  factors  that  appear  to  us  as  heredity,  environ- 
ment, and  will.  These  forces  make  men  and  women. 
But  some  one  of  a  reflective  turn  of  mind  will  say, 
Does  not  God  make  men  and  women  ?  Are  not  these 
three  but  secondary  causes  after  all  ?  Is  not  God  the 
primary  cause  ?  Where  does  God  come  into  the  pro- 
cess of  man-making  ?  These  are  philosophical  ques- 
tions that  would  penetrate  below  seemings  to  reality. 
For  their  answer  we  must  turn  to  our  last  chapter. 


Will  and  Education  143 

But  in  accord  with  our  general  point  of  view  hitherto, 
we  must  expect  to  find  that  God  comes  in,  not  by  way 
of  exception,  but  everywhere ;  and  we  shall  find  Him 
where  we  are,  or  not  at  all. 

REFERENCES  ON  CHAPTER  IV 

ARNOLD,  F.,  School  and  Class  Management,  Chap.  XII,  N.  Y., 

1908. 

BAGLEY,  W.  C.,  The  Educative  Process,  Chap.  Ill,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
BAIN,  A.,  Education  as  a  Science,  London,  1889,  Chap.  XII. 
BARNETT,  P.  A.,  Common  Sense  in  Education  and  Teaching, 

N.  Y.,  1899,  Chap.  II. 
CALDERWOOD,  H.,  On  Teaching,  Chaps.  IV  and  V,  4th  Ed., 

London,  1885. 
CHAMBERLAIN,  A.  H.,  Standards  in  Education,  Chap.  V,  N.  Y., 

1908. 

COE,  G.  A.,  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,  N.  Y.,  1904. 
COMPAYRE,  G.,  Psychology  applied  to  Education,  Chaps.  XI-XV, 

Boston,  1899. 

Lectures  on  Pedagogy,  Chap.  X,  Boston,  1890. 

CONOVER,  J.  P.,  Personality  in  Education,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
COPE,  E.  D.,  The  Origin  of  the  Fittest,  Chap.  XXI,  N.  Y.,  1887. 
DEWEY,  J.,  Moral  Principles  in  Education,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
DEWEY  and  TUFTS,  Ethics,  Chaps.  XVI  and  XVII,  N.Y.,  1908. 
DEXTER  AND  GARLICK,  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  Chap. 

XXIII,  N.  Y.,  1901. 
BUTTON  AND  SNEDDEN,  Administration  of  Public  Education  in 

the  U.  S.,  Chap.  XXVIII,  N.  Y.,  1908. 
FITCH,  J.,  Lectures  on  Teaching,  pp.  429  ff.,  N.  Y.,  1885. 
HORNE,  H.  H.,  The  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,  Part 

IV,  N.  Y.,  1906. 
ROWLAND,  G.,  Practical  Hints  for  Teachers,  Chaps.  V  and  VI, 

N.  Y.,  1889. 

JAMES,  W.,  Talks  to  Teachers,  Chap.  XV,  N.  Y.,  1899. 
JENKS,  J.  W.,  Citizenship  and  the  Schools,  N.  Y.,  1906. 
JOHONNOT,  J.,  Principles  and  Practice  of  Teaching,  Chap.  XIII, 

N.  Y.,  1896. 


144  Idealism  in  Education 

KIRKPATRICK,  E.  A.,  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study,  Chap.  XVI, 

N.  Y.,  1903. 

LAURIE,  S.  S.,  Institutes  of  Education,  4th  Part,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
MACCUNN,  J.,  The  Making  of  Character,  N.  Y.,  1900. 
PALMER,  G.  H.,  Ethical  and  Moral  Instruction  in  Schools,  N.  Y., 

1909. 

PALMER,  G.  H.,  The  Teacher,  II  and  III,  Boston,  1908. 
PARKER,  F.  W.,  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  Chap.  XIV,  Chicago, 

1894. 
Problems   of  Secondary  Education,  Northwestern  Univ.,  pp. 

144-182. 

PAYOT,  J.,  The  Education  of  the  Will,  N.  Y.,  1909. 
RUGH,  C.  E.,  and  others,  Moral  Training  in  the  Public  Schools, 

N.  Y.,  1908. 
SADLER,  M.  E.,  Moral   Instruction  and  Training  in  Schools, 

London,  1908. 

SCOTT,  C.  A.,  Social  Education,  Chap.  XII,  Boston,  1908. 
SEELEY,  L.,  A  New  School  Management,  Appendix,  N.  Y.,  1903. 
SPENCER,  H.,  Education,  IV,  N.  Y.,  1900. 
SULLY,  J.,  Teachers*  Handbook  of  Psychology,  Chap.  XX. 
SWIFT,  E.  J.,  "Man's  Educational  Reconstruction  of  Nat 

Popular  ScUnc*  Monthly,  March,  1908. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   PHILOSOPHY    OF    MAN-MAKING 

PHILOSOPHY  means  a  larger  and  unproven  view  of  i.TheNa- 
facts.  In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  been  con-  JS^  h 
cerned  at  some  length  with  facts.  Many  readers  will 
not  care  to  go  beyond  the  factual  view.  But  man 
has  imagination,  faith,  appreciation,  and  vision,  as 
well  as  observation,  explanation,  generalization,  and 
application.  The  former  set  of  endowments  give  us 
poetry,  religion,  and  philosophy;  the  latter,  science 
and  history.  If  possible,  we  ought  to  see  our  subject, 
education  in  man-making,  in  terms  of  philosophy  as 
well  as  in  terms  of  science. 

Philosophy  tries  to  see  all  the  facts  in  their  unity  and  The  Method 
implication.  It  would  read  the  matter  in  hand  in  terms  °OSopL 
of  its  meaning.  Facts  are  a  kind  of  language,  the 
language  of  concrete  realities,  used  by  the  universe  in 
its  processes  of  unfoldment  and  self-realization.  Just 
as  the  old  Babylonians  used  their  cuneiform,  or  wedge- 
shaped,  symbols  to  express  their  thoughts,  so  we  may 
suppose  the  universe  itself  uses  facts  to  express  mean- 
ings. Facts  at  bottom  are  Nature's  symbols  of  inner 
meanings.  Now  science  studies  the  symbols  them- 
selves, and  philosophy  studies  their  meanings.  The 
problem  of  philosophy  is  to  read  truly  the  universal 
meaning  of  facts,  and  the  method  of  philosophy  is 
guessing  with  reason.  Through  the  discovery  of  the 
L  145 


146  Idealism  in  Education 

Rosetta  stone,  with  the  same  meaning  expressed  in 
both  Greek,  which  they  knew,  and  the  Egyptian  hier- 
oglyphs, which  they  wanted  to  know,  philologists 
deciphered  the  meaning  of  the  hieroglyphs.  It  is 
possible  that  mind,  which  we  know,  and  matter,  which 
we  do  not  know,  are  two  languages  expressing  the 
same  meaning,  and  that  what  Greek  was  to  the  phi- 
lologists mind  is  to  the  philosophers.  At  any  rate, 
matter  to  us  is  symbolic  of  meanings  we  do  not  fully 
grasp,  while  mind  to  us  is  meaning  itself.  But  to  be 
a  philosopher  one  must  have  good  reason  to  make  the 
guess  he  does  concerning  the  inner  secrets  of  Nature. 

The  perplexing  thing  is  that  the  philosophers  make 
such  different  guesses.  Not  agreeing  that  in  their 
own  minds  they  have  the  clue  to  the  meaning  of  the 
facts  of  Nature,  they  try  other  clues,  which  work  in 
each  case  with  some  degree  of  success.  Whereupon 
it  does  not  occur  to  all  the  philosophers  to  observe 
that  any  reasonable  guess  partly  succeeds  because  of 
the  element  of  reason  in  it,  and  if  they  would  use 
reason  itself  as  the  ultimate  explanatory  principle, 
perhaps  they  might  succeed  best  of  all.  The  Etrus- 
can dialect  has  long  baffled  the  efforts  of  the  classical 
philologists  to  read  it ;  many  solutions  have  been  pro- 
posed ;  in  this  case  no  parallel  translation  in  a  known 
tongue  has  been  discovered ;  each  reasonable  guess 
has  made  clear  some  passages;  the  best  guess,  when 
it  comes,  will  make  clear  the  most  passages  in  the 
easiest  manner.  So,  in  the  absence  of  the  known 
translation,  philosophers  have  sought  many  clues  to 
the  riddle  of  existence,  with  varying  successes.  But 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       147 

they  have  always,  knowingly  or  unknowingly,  used 
their  own  minds  in  applying  their  solution  ;  they  have 
guessed  not  blindly  but  with  reason. 

Some  have  guessed  that  facts  are  facts  and  noth-  Materialism. 
ing  more,  that  they  convey  no  meaning  whatsoever, 
that  they  are  blind  brute  facts.  This  is  the  guess  of 
the  materialists.  The  trouble  with  this  guess  is  that 
man  himself  is  a  fact,  and  in  his  own  case  he  knows 
that  some  meaning  exists.  It  is  too  much,  therefore, 
to  find  the  meaning  of  existence  by  denying  that  it 
has  any. 

Others  have  guessed  that  the  meaning  is  unguess-  Agnosticism, 
able.  Meaning  there  must  be,  of  some  sort,  they  say, 
since  we  find  it  in  ourselves,  but  what  the  meaning  is, 
in  part  and  whole,  we  cannot  truly  suppose.  It  is 
there,  but  we  cannot  know  it.  These  are  the 
agnostics.  The  trouble  with  this  guess  is,  it  asserts 
by  implication  what  it  denies.  It  denies  that  the 
meaning  is  guessable,  but  it  asserts  that  it  has  truly 
guessed  its  character  as  unguessable.  Whereas,  of 
course,  if  the  riddles  of  the  world  were  truly  unguess- 
able, we  could  not  so  much  as  guess  they  were  so. 
To  know  the  unknowable  is  inconsistent ;  even  to 
know  that  it  is  unknowable  is  to  know  all  there  is  to 
know  about  it.  The  agnostics  may  truly  know  they 
do  not  know,  but  they  cannot  know  that  the  meaning 
of  the  world  is  unknowable.  This  would  be  a  very 
exalted  form  of  gnosticism. 

Others  have  guessed  that  some  facts  have  meaning  Dualism, 
and  some  have  none,  that   the   mental   facts   have 
meaning,  but  the  material  facts  have  none.     These 
are  the  dualists,  asserting  meaning  wherever  there  is 


148 


Idealism  in  Education 


Pluralism. 


Parallelism. 


mind,  but  finding  matter  opaque  to  meaning  and  to 
mind.  The  trouble  with  this  guess  is  that  half  the 
facts  remain  unread.  Blinded  by  the  light  of  mind, 
they  see  only  darkness  in  matter.  The  best  guess 
will  read  all  the  facts  in  the  easiest  manner. 

Still  others  have  guessed  that  the  meanings  are 
many  and  the  no-meanings  are  many,  and  the  whole 
is  disconnected  and  fragmentary.  No  unitary  story  is 
being  told,  but  the  universe  is  like  a  badly  bound 
magazine  in  several  languages,  with  some  pages  mis- 
placed and  some  missing.  This  is  the  guess  of  the 
pluralists.  It  perhaps  has  least  of  ordering  reason 
in  it,  finding  most  of  disordered  chaos  in  our  world  of 
experience.  It  is  also  one  of  the  guesses  of  the 
childhood  of  the  race  when  there  were  gods,  many 
warring  at  cross-purposes  with  each  other. 

A  nineteenth-century  guess  was  that  the  meanings 
and  no-meanings  were  equal  in  number,  correspond- 
ent to  each  other,  and  parallel  in  character.  Wher- 
ever there  is  mind  there  is  matter,  and  wherever  there 
is  matter  there  also  is  mind,  but  these  two  have  no 
dealings  with  each  other.  The  psychical  series  does 
not  affect  the  physical  series,  nor  the  physical  s« 
the  psychical  series,  but  the  parallelism  is  universal. 
These  are  the  parallelists.  The  trouble  with  this 
guess  is  that  it  denies  relations  between  things  that 
seem  most  intimately  related.  John  Stuart  Mill 
teaches  us  to  hold  as  causally  related  two  things  that 
vary  concomitantly  with  each  other,  as  para  11 
says  the  psychical  and  physical  series  do.  Then,  too, 
parallelism  seems  to  be  clearer  in  denying  the  fact 
of  interrelation  than  in  asserting  its  positive  position. 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       149 

We  cannot  review  guesses  of  secondary  importance ;  idealism, 
the  above  represent  the  main  guesses,  together  with 
the  following  one.  There  is  but  one  vast  meaning 
running  through  all  the  facts  of  existence,  like  the 
mind  through  the  body.  Mental  facts  are  both  facts 
and  meanings,  while  physical  facts  also  have  their 
mental  meanings.  As  all  Nature  fills  one  space  and 
all  events  one  time,  so  all  existence  is  one  unity 
"whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  Soul."  This 
is  the  guess  of  the  idealists.  In  no  fact  is  meaning 
absent,  nor  is  it  unknown  entirely  to  us  who  know 
our  significant  selves,  nor  is  it  absent  from  half  ex- 
istence, nor  is  it  confused  in  itself,  nor  is  it  the  coun- 
terpart of  a  no-meaning.  It  appears  fragmentary  to 
us  because  we  see  in  part,  but  the  whole  nevertheless 
is  there  giving  significance  to  the  parts.  The  trouble 
with  this  guess  is  that  it  is  not  demonstrable.  It 
reads  all  the  facts  and  in  a  very  simple  way,  but  you 
cannot  prove  that  the  guess  is  correct.  This  is  of 
course  because  the  philosopher  is  not  himself  the 
whole  meaning.  From  the  nature  of  the  case  the 
guess  of  the  part  concerning  the  whole  is  not  verifi- 
able. Because  it  seems  to  have  most  rfeason  in  it, 
we  adopt  this  last  guess  of  idealism. 

Now  the  question  is,  how  shall  we  re^d  the  facts 
of  man-making  ?  What  meaning  do  they  yield  ?  It 
is  not  our  plan  to  read  idealism  into  the  facts,  but,  if 
we  can,  to  read  the  true  meaning  out  of  the  facts. 

Before  attempting  to  formulate  a  philosophy  of 
man-making  we  ought  to  take  stock  as  to  how  man 
is  progressing.  On  the  whole  there  is  no  ground  for 


150  Idealism  in  Education 

discouragement  But  it  takes  the  view  of  a  wide 
sweep  of  time  to  assure  us  of  this.  Historic  time  is 
very  short  in  comparison  with  even  that  past  time 
which  has  affected  man ;  no  final  conclusions  for  or 
against  man's  progress  in  mental  endowment  can  be 
drawn  from  the  moment  of  time  we  know  as  recorded 
history.  We  may  in  fact  entertain  grave  doubt  about 
*  the  increase  of  mental  capacity  during  historic  time. 
Our  view  of  man's  progress  must  include  also  the 
scope  of  prehistoric  time,  the  length  of  which  we 
cannot  adequately  conceive.  Some  geologists  have 
estimated  by  measuring  the  present  rate  of  recession 
that  Niagara  Falls  have  been  thirty-nine  thousand 
years  in  making  the  seven-mile  gorge.  Allowing  the 
immense  stretches  of  prehistoric  time  to  come  into 
our  view,  and  comparing  the  modern  man  with  his 
primitive  forbears,  all  doubt  as  to  his  progress  in 
mental  capacity  vanishes.  And  this  progress  was 
made  by  "natural  selection,"  without  any  compre- 
hension on  man's  part  of  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  without  his  conscious  cooperation  in  this 
large  way.  If  such  progress  was  made  in  man's  ig- 
norance, it  staggers  and  exalts  us  to  conceive  what 
progress  may  be  made  by  the  aid  of  man's  knowledge 
and  use  of  the  creative  forces. 
Progress  ia  We  distinguish  between  capacity  and  acquisition. 
While  capacity  has  increased  during  all  past  time, 
we  cannot  trace  its  increase  during  historic  past  time ; 
this  does  not  discourage  the  thought  of  its  increase 
in  future  time,  for  the  simple  reason  that  in  historic 
time  no  conscious  effort  has  been  made  to  increase 
man's  capacity,  and  conscious  effort  works  wonders 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       151 

in  comparatively  short  intervals.  But  there  has  been 
progress  in  acquisition  within  historic  time.  This  is 
because  man's  acquisition  in  religion,  literature,  art, 
science,  and  history  is  transmitted  by  social  heredity, 
so  that  each  generation  receives  all  the  past  achieve- 
ments, adds  to  them,  and  passes  all  on.  Thus  during 
historic  time  progress  has  been  rather  through  social 
than  physiological  heredity.  Physiological  heredity, 
unlike  social  heredity,  cannot  transmit  individual 
acquisitions,  but  only  those  inherent  variations  arising 
in  the  union  of  two  germ  cells ;  this  union  hitherto  in 
man's  case  has  never  been  consciously  directed  toward 
improving  racial  capacity,  though  man  has  directed 
the  union  for  improving  animals  and  plants. 

Concerning  the  lines  of  progress  in  acquisition  Material 
during  historic  time  some  doubt  has  been  expressed.1  l 
The  one  clear  line  of  progress  to  Bryce  is  the  mate- 
rial. We  shall  easily  admit  this  if  we  think  of  the 
steam-engine,  the  telegraph,  the  sewing-machine,  the 
cotton-gin,  the  cablegraph,  the  telephone,  wireless 
telegraphy,  the  steel  war-vessel,  the  submarine  craft, 
the  airship,  huge  fortunes,  etc.,  remembering  that 
very  few  of  man's  past  arts  and  inventions  have  been 
lost  to  the  world.  The  fact  is,  the  material  luxu- 
ries of  one  generation  become  the  necessities  of  the 
next. 

Concerning  intellectual  progress,  that  is,  the  ad-  intellectual 
vance  of  knowledge,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  l 
It  is  really  a  pre-condition  of  material  progress,  for 
material  progress  is  due  to  the  application  of  hard- 
won  knowledge.     The  modern  world  particularly  has 

l  Cf.  Bryce,  "  What  is  Progress?"  Atlantic  Monthly  >  100,  pp.  145-156. 


152  Idealism  in  Education 

followed  the  trumpet-call  of  Bacon  to  master  Nature 
by  understanding  her.  Illustrations  of  the  advance- 
ment of  learning  within  historic  time  would  be  the 
transitions  from  astrology  to  modern  astronomy,  from 
alchemy  to  modern  chemistry,  from  phrenology  to 
physiological  psychology.  The  reduction  to  pi  me 
and  topographical  maps  of  the  surface  of  our  planet ; 
the  classification  of  the  races  of  men ;  the  story  of 
the  earth's  history;  physiology;  the  conquest  of 
disease,  etc.;  other  equally  noted  illustrations  will 
occur  to  the  reader.  This  progress  in  knowledge 
has  taken  place  by  the  joint  use  of  the  a  priori  and 
a  posteriori  methods. 

^Efthedc  Concerning  progress   in   aesthetic  acquisition,  we 

may  have  no  doubt  if  we  contrast  the  art  of  primitive 
and  modern  man  in  drawing,  music,  the  crafts,  song, 
building,  carving,  painting,  and  decorating.  The 
primitive  man  may  have  had  the  aesthetic  capai 
of  such  late  products  as  Myron,  Virgil,  Angelo,  da 
Vinci,  and  Beethoven;  we  cannot  disprove  it;  but  he 
certainly  lacked  their  development  and  productivity. 
^Esthetic  arts  in  which  primitive  peoples  may  have 
excelled  moderns  are  story-telling  and  myth-making. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  progress  in  art  has  not 
been  so  continuous  as  progress  in  knowledge, 
ferent  periods  having  excelled  in  particular  artistic 
achievements,  as  the  primitive  period  in  epic  narra-  ; 
tion,  the  Egyptian  in  mammoth  construction,  the 
Greek  in  statuary,  the  mediaeval  in  aspiring  architec- 
ture, the  Renaissance  in  painting,  and  the  modern  in 
music.  Other  arts  have  perhaps  equally  flourished 
at  different  periods,  e.g.  comedy  and  tragedy  during 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       153 

the  Greek  and  Renaissance  periods.  These  facts 
indicate  that  art  is  more  dependent  upon  the  indi- 
vidual genius  and  is  less  communicable  to  the  rank  \ 
and  file  than  knowledge.  In  discussing  progress  in 
art  it  is  common  to  contrast  the  Greek  and  modern 
periods  to  the  detriment  of  the  latter ;  but  the  historic 
perspective  is  entirely  too  short  to  show  anything 
concerning  the  loss  of  artistic  capacity ;  as  for  artistic 
productions,  about  all  that  can  be  said  is,  we  cannot 
repeat  their  excellence  in  marble,  and  they  did  not 
achieve  our  excellence  in  music;  these  are  differ- 
ences, but  hardly  grounds  for  odious  comparisons. 

As  for  moral  progress,  make  the  time-sweep  broad  Moral 
enough,  and  you  are  sure  of  it.  The  primitive  code  Pr°sress» 
of  morals  is,  love  your  friends,  those  of  your  clan, 
and  hate  your  enemies,  those  of  all  other  clans.  The 
unit  is  social,  not  individual.  In  modern  times  we 
have  the  theory,  and  sometimes  the  practice,  love 
your  enemies.  The  unit  is  here  individual  as  well  as 
social.  In  fact,  progress  in  morality  has  been  rather 
for  the  individual  than  for  the  nation.  The  average 
moral  standard  of  the  individuals  of  a  nation  surpasses 
that  of  the  nation  acting  as  a  nation.  Nations  will 
still  in  primitive  fashion  fight  out  their  differences, 
though  individuals  will  sometimes  arbitrate.  There 
has  been  moral  progress  too  in  recognizing,  theo- 
retically at  least,  the  unity  of  mankind,  the  conse- 
quent anachronism  of  warfare,  and  the  consequent 
rise  of  demands  for  an  international  tribunal  of  arbi- 
tration. This  world-movement  toward  unity1  is 

1  Cf.  Tucker,  W.  J.,  "The  New  Movement  of  Humanity."     Roose- 
velt, T.,  "The  World  Movement,"  Outlook,  May  14,  1910. 


154  Idealism  in  Education 

slowly  in  process,  is  a  tremendous  moral  gain,  and 
is  being  rapidly  forwarded  by  modern  facilities  for 
transportation  and  communication.  Also  there  has 
come  to  be  greater  consideration  for  women  and  chil- 
dren as  human  beings  with  rights  and  privileges  as 
well  as  duties.  The  modern  moral  sense  rebels  against 
the  state  exposure  of  weak  or  female  infants,  against 
child-wives,  harems,  and  Mormonism.  There  has 
been  at  the  same  time  a  growth  in  humaneness,  lead- 
ing to  the  establishment  of  hospitals  and  asylums 
and  to  the  separation  of  the  insane  and  the  criminal. 
This  spirit  of  fellow-feeling  has  passed  on  to  the 
animals ;  we  try  to  prevent  cruelty  to  animals  as 
as  to  children ;  we  study  and  heal  the  diseases  of  the 
domestic  animals.  In  so  far  as  the  "  anti-vivisection  " 
movement  is  a  witness  to  sympathy  for  animals,  it  is 
good;  in  so  far  as,  by  saving  the  dogs,  it  would  in 
ignorance  of  their  diseases  sacrifice  the  children,  it 
is  short-sighted.  The  widening  of  fellow-feeling  to 
include  the  animals  is  associated  with  the  modern  in- 
terest in  animal  habits,  intelligence,  and  life.  When* 
we  test  moral  progress  by  violations  of  the  moral 
law,  that  is,  one's  sense  of  right,  there  is  no  telling 
whether  the  race  has  progressed  morally  or  not.  If 
we  subject  savages  and  barbarians  to  our  code  of 
morals,  there  has  evidently  been  progress.  A  modern 
man  subjected  to  their  code  would  not  be  a  "  good  " 
clansman.  In  view  of  the  many  artificial  as  well  as 
the  natural  penalties  in  primitive  life,  it  is  probable 
that  savages  do  as  nearly,  if  not  more  nearly,  what  is 
right  to  them  as  do  the  civilized.  Moral  progress 
has  consisted  rather  in  substituting  one  code  for  an- 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       155 

other  than  in  following  the  code  one  has.  On  the 
latter  basis,  "  Crump,  with  all  his  devils,"  would  prob- 
ably be  the  better  man.  The  moral  sense,  viz.,  that 
there  is  a  right,  seems  to  characterize  man  as  man; 
what  that  right  is  depends  on  education,  in  the  broad 
sense  of  the  term.1 

Parallel  to  the  uniting  of  humanity  in  sympathy  Humanity 
has  gone  the  disuniting  of  humanity  in  races.     Thus  p^^e" 
on  the  one  hand  we  have  human  sympathy  and  on 
the  other  hand  race-prejudice.     These  interests  some, 
times  clash.     The  solution  of  the  conflict  will  hardly 
be  the  elimination  of  either  human  sympathy  or  race- 
prejudice,  but  a  division  of  the  field,  and  this  in  the 
interest  of  mankind.     Sympathy  is  fellow-feeling  be- 
tween man  and  man,  it  is  a  human  bond,  and  may 
well  unite  all  men  with  each  other.     Race-prejudice 
means  the   refusal   to   intermarry  and    mix   breeds, 
which  is  so  destructive  to  race-loyalty.     Race-preju-   x 
dice  in  this  form  protects  us  against  loss  of  racial 
individuality,  while  human  sympathy  should  insure  to 
each  man  his  best  chance. 

How  about  religious  progress  ?     The   question   is  Religious 
very  difficult,  because  people  are  less  agreed  about     rogres 
religion    than    about    anything    except    philosophy. 
But  the  exception  is  a  minor  one,  because  religion 
and   philosophy  are  so  closely  related  and   because 
there  are  so  few  conscious  philosophers.     The  ques- 
tion  is   very  closely  related   to   the    preceding   one 
on  moral  progress,  the  two  lines  running  along  to- 
gether, and  the  greatest  gains  in  religion   resulting 
from  the  improving  moral  code. 

Ki  On  moral  progress,  cf.  Dewey  and  Tufts,  Ethics,  Part  I,  N.  Y.,  1908. 


156 


Idealism  in  Education 


Monotheism.  First  of  all,  parallel  to,  and  perhaps  consequent 
upon,  the  growth  in  the  sense  of  the  unity  of  man- 
kind has  come  the  gradual  unification  of  deity. 
The  steps  in  the  progress  are,  perhaps,  naturism,  the 
worship  of  natural  objects,  as  fire  and  water,  as  living ; 
animism,  the  worship  of  the  spirits  supposed  to 
reside  in  such  natural  objects,  as  Agni  and  Indra; 
polytheism,  the  worship  of  many  mutually  indepen- 
dent deities,  separable  from  objects ;  henotheism, 
the  worship  of  each  of  several  gods  for  the  time 
being  as  the  sole  god ;  finally,  monotheism,  the 
worship  of  one  god.  This  progress  toward  unity 
in  religion  is  paralleled  by  the  scientific  progress 
toward  the  conception  of  unity  in  Nature,  as  well 
as  by  the  moral  progress  toward  unity  in  man. 

Further,  there  has  been  progress  in  the  moral i- 
zation  of  deity.  Religion  began  independently  of 
morality,  perhaps  in  the  desire  of  man  to  propitiate 
the  living  forces  in  his  environment,  which  sometimes 
he  feared,  which  however  he  must  control  to  succeed. 
Religion  is  man's  instrument  of  adjustment  to  the 
unseen,  as  science  has  come  to  be  his  instrument  of 
adjustment  to  the  seen.  Man  pictured  these  deities 
in  his  own  moral  image,  subject  to  caprice,  passions, 
anger,  and  revenge.  As  man's  moral  stature  grew, 
so  also  did  his  god's,  until  the  complete  moralization 
of  deity  took  place,  as  in  such  an  utterance  as, 
"  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  "  1 
These  two  lines  of  progress  are  in  the  theologi 
element  of  religion.  On  the  emotional  side  there 
has  been  progress  from  such  states  of  feeling  as 

1  Gen.  18  :  25. 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       157 

terror,  fear,  hatred,  suspicion,  subjection,  to  awe, 
reverence,  love,  trust,  and  humility.  Both  religion 
and  science  have  agreed  in  eliminating  all  fear, 
except  of  broken  law. 

On  the  practical  side  in  religion  men  bring  now  Progress  in 
to  their  worship  not  the  fruit  of  the  field,  nor  animals  wofshi15 
to  the  sacrifice,  nor  the  fruit  of  their  own  bodies,  as 
acts  of  propitiation,  but  themselves   in   consecration 
to  noble  ends.     The  gift  of  money  without  the  giver 
is  bare.     Men  have  ceased,  in  theory  at  least,  Jacob- 
like,  to  bargain  with  Jehovah.     The  sacrifice  to  God 
is  now  the  devoted  life. 

Withal,  too,  there  has  been  progress  in  religious  Progress  in 
toleration.  This  has  rested  mainly  upon  progress 
in  the  knowledge  of  religions.  Men  found  elements 
of  similarity  in  all  religions,  that  the  essential  genius 
of  religion  is  one,  that  the  distinction  is  not  between 
revealed  and  non-revealed  religions,  but  between 
lower  and  higher  revelations,  that  the  measure  of 
the  revelation  is  not  so  much  the  Spirit  of  God  as 
the  incapacity  of  man.  Religious  conquest  by  the 
sword  is  in  disfavor.  The  fires  of  the  Inquisition 
are  out,  the  torturous  racks  of  religious  persecution 
are  preserved  in  historic  museums.  No  one  man, 
no  one  church,  no  one  religion,  has  grasped  all  the 
infinite  truth  of  God;  hence  religious  toleration  is 
a  necessity.  The  phenomenon  of  the  study  of  com- 
parative religion  is  a  witness  to  religious  progress 
in  toleration. 

The   higher  religions  have,  as   a   rule,  and  later,  Missions. 
if    not    sooner,    considered    their    privilege    also    an 
obligation.     The  wonderful  nineteenth   century,  the 


158 


Idealism  in  Education 


century  of  unification,  saw  the  launching  of  great 
Christian  missionary  enterprises.  Their  animating 
motive  a>  first  was  narrow,  to  save  the  souls  of 
the  heathen  from  hell  through  the  only  efficacious 
plan  of  salvation  ;  it  was  a  narrow  theological  motive. 
The  spirit  of  missions  shifted  rapidly,  as  things  go 
in  this  world,  to  the  use  of  such  additional  agencies 
as  the  school,  the  hospital,  and  the  social  settlement. 
The  motive  shifted  from  the  theological  to  the  educa- 
tional. To-day  among  the  best  fruits  of  Christian 
missions  is  the  general  awakening  of  the  East  which 
its  whole  communication  with  the  West  has  accom- 
plished. Christian  nations  are  most  unchristian  in 
quelling  by  violence  the  rise  of  the  spirit  of  individu- 
ality and  nationalism  in  Oriental  countries;  these 
very  things  it  is  our  western  mission  to  teach,  not 
to  destroy. 

Along  with  these  several  lines  of  religious  progress 
must  be  remarked  one  Ifoe  of  religious  decline;  there 
is  a  decline  in  advancing  civilization  in  the  extent  of 
the  social  influence  of  religion.  I  do  not  say  that 
this  decline  is  necessary;  it  probably  depends  upon 
the  character  of  the  religion ;  but  it  is  an  observable 
fact  Primitive  life  is  entirely  dominated  by  relijj 
the  medicine  man,  the  shaman,  the  priest,  are  the  most 
influential  men  of  the  tribe  ;  the  religious  sanctions 
and  taboos  compass  the  whole  life  all  the  days.  Even 
in  the  Greek  days  religion  permeated  life  in  a  way 
unknown  to-day ;  the  great  Olympian  and  other 
games  were  religious  festivals,  and  the  Greek  tragedy 
originated  in  religious  rites.  Something  similar  in  the 
extent  of  the  social  influence  of  religion  is  seen  in  the 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       159 

mediaeval  days,  when  the  church  as  an  institution 
was  the  dominating  influence  of  the  whole  life,  polit- 
ical, social,  scientific,  and  aesthetic.  All  the  Oriental 
nations  are  still  supremely  shaped  by  their  religions, 
except  Japan.  In  the  modern  West  the  story  is  dif- 
ferent. The  minister  is  not  the  leading  figure  in  his 
community  he  once  was,  and  the  church  does  not  in- 
fluence all  the  life  as  it  once  did.  Many  people  are 
born,  marry,  raise  families,  and  die  without  relation- 
ship to  the  church. 

There  are  several  sources  of  explanation  for  the  its  Ex- 
fact  that  modern  society  is  not  influenced  by  religion  Planatlon- 
as  it  once  was,  such  as  the  rise  of  the  modern  demo- 
cratic state  as  the  seat  of  political  power,  the  rise  of 
the  public  press  as  moulding  public  opinion,  the  rise  of 
the  critical  spirit,  the  growth  of  the  sense  of  individu- 
ality, the  spread  of  higher  education  among  the  pews, 
the  rivalry  of  the  denominational  sects,  the  progress 
of  modern  knowledge,  the  conservatism  of  theology, 
the  growing  social  and  financial  attractions  of  other 
professions,  the  consequent  relative  decline  in  minis- 
terial ability,  and  other  similar  things.  The  funda- 
mental thing  is  that  the  church  as  a  whole  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  spiritual  needs  of  modern  life,  with 
the  result  that  modern  life  flows  by  instead  of,  as  it 
once  did,  through  the  church. 

This  gives  the  church  its  crucial  problem  to-day,   The  Problem 
the  problem  of  regaining  its  social  constructive  influ-  £fhth^ch 
ence,  of  expanding  its  ministry  to  compass  the  needs 
and  interests  of  modern  life.     The  genius  of  religion 
is  sufficiently  versatile  and  adjustable  to  allow  this ; 
whether  the  catholicity  and  zeal  of  the  church  is  suffi- 


160  Idealism  in  Education 

cient  to  achieve  it  remains  to  be  seen.  Many  signs 
to-day  indicate  that  religion  will  rise  to  meet  its  social 
crisis.1 

Progress  in  racial  acquisitions  is  slow  enough, 
progress  in  racial  capacity  is  much  slower.  Looking 
at  the  race  as  a  whole,  to-day,  its  vital  symptoms  are 
distinctly  good.  There  are  no  signs  of  rapid  decline 
anywhere.  The  racial  poisons,  such  as  alcohol  and 
syphilis,  are  indeed  playing  havoc  among  those  af- 
fected and  their  descendants.  The  non-inheritance  of 
acquired  characters  is  marvellously  protecting  the  race 
from  the  vices  of  many  of  its  members.  The  plagues 
that  scourge  humanity  are  rapidly  yielding  to  science 
and  skill,  and  prophylaxis  is  opening  a  new  era  of  racial 
health.  The  relatively  declining  birth-rate  in  most 
civilized  societies  is  due  more  to  choice  than  to  im- 
potency,  and  in  so  far  as  it  evinces  foresight  rather 
than  the  rejection  of  the  duties  of  parenthood  is  com- 
mendable. The  declining  death-rate  among  in  i 
and  children  has  increased  the  mean  duration  of  lifi-  in 
the  last  half  century  some  ten  or  twelve  years,  though 
the  hopes  of  Metchnikoff  for  the  prolongation  of  life 
beyond  a  hundred  years  in  full  possession  of  all 
faculties  are  probably  fatuous. 

We  have  seen  previously  that  there  are  many  and 
serious  menaces  to  American  society.  But  on  the 
whole  the  American  stock  does  not  yet  show  evidences 
of  decline.  Americans  do  not  seem  to  be  losing 
height  or  lung  capacity.  There  has  been  no  marked 
increase  in  insanity  yet  from  American  nervousness. 
Criminality  is  perhaps  only  apparently  increasing, 
1  a.  Rauichcnbuicb, «  Christianity  and  the  Social  Criiit,"  N.  Y.,  1908. 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       161 

because  of  its  increased  detection,  the  increasing 
number  of  laws  against  it,  and  the  improved  records. 
Children  are  not  born  old,  though  the  absence  of 
playgrounds  and  early  labor  make  them  prematurely 
so.  Almost  half  our  population  is  now  urban,  and  it 
is  learning  to  survive  so.  The  immigrant  is  sometimes 
a  bad  citizen  from  the  outset,  and  often  is  made  so 
the  first  few  days  after  his  arrival,  but  in  most  cases 
he  loves  and  wants  liberty  and  eagerly  assimilates 
American  ideals.  The  divorce  evil  is  indeed  shame- 
ful, but  it  is  notorious  not  among  the  masses  of  the  > 
people,  but  among  the  idle  rich  whose  ancestors  knew 
how  to  make  money  better  than  their  descendants 
know  how  to  spend  it.  The  fact  is,  we  have  not 
learned  yet  in  any  of  its  bearings  that  matrimony 
contemplates  the  benefit  of  the  race  rather  than  the^~- - 
pleasure  of  the  individual.  The  most  ominous  cloud 
on  the  American  horizon  is  our  mammoth  industrial 
system,  which  has  not  been  assimilated  by  the  true  Nt 
ends  of  living,  life,  liberty,  truth,  beauty,  virtue, 
happiness,  but  has  instead  been  rapidly  assimilating 
all  these  in  its  monstrous  maw.  Even  this  system, 
however,  has  given  us  great  wealth,  whose  philan- 
thropic uses  in  combating  the  evils  the  system  has 
itself  helped  to  produce  we  are  just  learning. 

With  all  these  signs  of  promise  for  the  American  Need  of  Vi- 
race,  there  are  still  many  elemental  things  we  need  *^^n 
to   learn  about   eating  and  drinking,  breathing  and 
sleeping,  dressing  and  walking,  marrying  and  giving 
in  marriage,  and  the  provision  of  the  right  conditions 
of   living.     The  modern   rainbow  of  promise  is  the 
adjustment  of  our  intense  individualism  to  the  idea  of 


162  Idealism  in  Education 

social  intervention  for  the  good  of  the  race.  How- 
ever much  it  hurts  the  monopolistic  capitalist,  the 
state  is  beginning  to  conserve  its  material  resources. 
But  the  only  true  wealth  is  life,  in  relation  to  which 
other  things  become  costly  or  cheap,  and  though  it 
may  hurt  our  individualism,  and  sense  of  the  parental 
ownership  of  children,  the  state  is  beginning  to  con- 
serve its  vital  resources.  This  is  conservation  indeed. 
» 

Hours  of  labor  are  shortened ;  labor  is  protected 
from  machinery  and  the  perils  that  beset  certain  call- 
ings, as  mining;  women  and  children  are  protected; 
sanitation  and  school  hygiene  become  compulsory; 
breathing  spaces  for  the  city  poor  are  provided  ;  and 
particularly,  and  most  hopefully,  the  marriage  of  the 
unfit  is  being  prevented  by  the  establishment  of 
celibate  industrial  communities.  Theoretically  this 
intrenchment  upon  individualism  by  the  authority  of 
the  state  is  fully  justified  by  the  finer  type  of  individ- 
uals to  come  thereby. 

Thus  we  have  reviewed  the  main  lines  of  human 
progress  and  the  situation  to-day.  This  is  how  n> 
kind  is  getting  on.  But  how  might  it  get  on  ? 
Suppose  we  applied  ourselves  to  the  study  of  the 
forces  that  make  man,  and  then  applied  our  knowledge? 
We  have  done  this  in  our  material  world,  and  modern 
material  civilization,  only  dreamed  of  in  the  Utopias 
of  the  Renaissance,  is  the  result.  If  we  did  it  in  our 
vital  world,  who  can  reasonably  doubt  that  the  present 
dreams  of  the  superman,  the  man  with  higher  vital- 
ity, truer  knowledge,  finer  sensibilities,  stronger  charac- 
ter, larger  capacities  in  every  way,  would  be  the 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       163 

reality  of  some  centuries  hence  ?  Then  our  years 
would  be  known  as  another  human  Renaissance,  this 
time  not  as  the  advancement  of  learning,  but  as  the 
advancement  of  life,  the  age  of  education  in  man-mak- 
ing. An  enlightened  and  well-disposed  public  opinion 
could  accomplish  marvels  of  progress  in  but  a  tick  of 
the  clock  of  the  universe.  What  man  has  amounted 
to  is  but  a  token  of  what  he  may  become.  His  evo- 
lution has  already  shifted  from  the  material  to  the 
mental  plane.  Man  is  now  beginning  to  take  a 
conscious  part  in  his  own  making.  Conscious  effort 
wonderfully  abbreviates  the  slow  processes  of  Nature. 
The  past  predetermines  the  line  of  man's  future 
evolution,  though  no  prophet  can  predict  what  it  will 
be.  It  may  be  the  perfecting  of  present  physical  and 
mental  powers;  it  may  be  the  development  of  present 
incipient  powers,  such. as  telepathy ;  it  may  be  in  time 
the  development  of  powers  at  present  unimaginable. 
It  would  be  a  distinct  aid  to  man  if  his  mind  by  any 
means  could  make  present  the  vast  forgotten  past  or 
the  distant  reaches  of  space  beyond  telescopic  vision, 
or  could  know  the  state  of  the  dead.  Avoidable 
ignorance  is  no  cure  for  any  human  ill.  These  are 
admittedly  dreams ;  of  their  content  we  are  by  no 
means  so  sure  as  of  the  methods  of  their  realization. 
The  road  of  progress  we  know,  the  goal  we  cannot 
see  nor  foresee.  The  road  is  the  threefold  way,  the 
royal  road  of  truth  to  the  full  realization  of  man's 
destiny,  good  births,  good  places,  goodwills.  Eugenics 
enlarges  capacity  by  mating  the  fit  and  preventing 
the  mating  of  the  unfit.  Eutopias  provide  the  good 
places  of  opportunity  in  which  capacities  may  de- 


164 


Idealism  in  Education 


5.  The  Na- 
ture of 


The  Nature 
of  Time. 


velop.  Eunoias  are  the  rightly  trained  good  wills 
that  realize  capacity  by  utilizing  opportunity.  May 
the  traveller,  man,  and  his  threefold  way  become  one 
with  the  errand  to  be  done,  —  the  making  of  a  fitter 
race  of  men  and  women. 

Having  now  indicated  the  progress  man  has  made 
and  the  progress  he  might  make,  the  question  may  be 
raised  as  to  the  absolute  nature  of  progress.  How  is 
progress  possible  ?  Is  it  real  or  illusory  ?  Does  God 
progress?  If  so,  how  is  He  perfect?  If  not,  how  is 
progress  genuine?  These  questions  are  easy  to 
ask  and  hard  to  answer.  Their  consideration  will 
help  us  later  in  finding  the  philosophy  of  man-making. 

The  answers  depend  essentially  upon  the  real 
nature  of  time.  Nobody  has  doubted  the  reality  of 
time  except  some  theologians  and  some  philosophers. 
Theology  has  separated  between  earthly  time  and 
heavenly  eternity  when  time  shall  be  no  more.  Yet 
theology,  somewhat  inconsistently,  has  pictured  he 
as  including  events  which  presuppose  time  even  there. 
Immanuel  Kant  among  philosophers  has  attacked 
the  reality  of  time  as  well  as  of  space,  holding  that 
both  time  and  space  are  peculiar  to  the  human  way  of 
regarding  events  and  objects,  that  they  do  not  charac- 
terize reality,  that  they  characterize  only  phenomena 
or  reality  as  viewed  by  us.  Time,  and  space  too,  are 
not  derived  by  us  from  our  experience  of  events 
objects,  they  are  brought  by  us  to  our  experience  of 
events  and  objects,  they  area  priori  not  a  posteriori; 
they  arc  the  mental  pre-conditions  of  experience,  they 
are  not  products  of  experience  ;  they  are,  in  Kant's 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       165 

phrase,  "  empirically  real  but  transcendentally  ideal," 
that  is  to  say,  they  do  belong  to  phenomena,  but 
they  do  not  belong  to  noumena. 

Kant's  reason  for  holding  this  view  of  time  and  Kant's 
space  was  that  they  both,  as  we  knew  them,  were  Arsument- 
characterized  by  universality  and  necessity;  time 
covers  all  inner  events  and  space  includes  all  outer 
objects,  and  there  are  no  exceptions  to  the  necessary 
union  of  events  in  time  and  of  objects  in  space.  But 
universality  and  necessity  do  not  characterize  prin- 
ciples derived  by  observation  from  experience,  all  of 
which  are  both  particular  and  contingent.  Hence, 
Kant  concluded,  time  and  space  were  not  derived 
from  experience,  but  were  contributed  by  the  mind  to 
experience. 

It  is  a  famous  doctrine  and  we  cannot  go  into  all 
its  relations;  it  is  bound  up  with  the  whole  of  the 
very  difficult  Kantian  philosophy.  What  shall  we 
say  to  it  ?  Is  time  unreal  or  real?  If  time  is  unreal, 
all  progress  is  illusory;  if  time  is  real,  progress  is 
genuine. 

The  trouble  with  Kant's  view  is  the  same  as  the  Kant 
trouble  with  all  agnostics,  —  Kant  was  an  intellectual  Criticised- 
agnostic ;  he  knows  too  much  about  the  realities  he 
said  nobody  could  know  anything  about.  That  time 
characterizes  phenomena,  we  may  all  agree  with  Kant; 
that  time  does  not  characterize  noumena,  how  does 
he  know  ?  That  there  are  any  unknowable  noumena, 
how  does  he  know  ?  Like  many  philosophers,  he  is 
right  in  what  he  affirms  and  perhaps  wrong  in  what 
he  denies.  As  for  the  marks  of  a-priority,  —  universal- 
ity and  necessity,  —  these  may  be  nothing  more  than 


166  Idealism  in  Education 

generalizations  from  exceptionless  experience ;  all 
events  we  experience  as  temporal  and  as  parts  of  one 
continuous  time ;  all  objects  we  experience  as  spatial 
and  as  contained  in  one  space ;  such  numberless  ex- 
periences without  any  exceptions  are  enough  to  as- 
sure the  mind  that  its  concepts  of  time  and  space  are 
universal  and  necessary  without  assuming  that  time 
and  space  are,  in  Kant's  words,  "  the  a  priori  forms 
of  sense."  Time,  then,  we  conclude,  is  one  of  the 
objective  elements  we  men  experience ;  it  is  not  con- 
tributed by  our  minds  to  experience.  Without  ob- 
servers, if  something  happens,  there  is  still  time. 
The  Unity  of  But  further.  The  idea  of  unity  has  met  us  in  sev- 
eral  of  our  discussions,  —  the  unity  of  man,  the  unity 
of  Nature,  the  unity  of  deity.  We  now  come  upon  the 
idea  of  the  unity  of  all  experience.  Kant  got  into 
trouble  when  he  asserted  a  peculiar  human  type  of 
temporal  and  spatial  experience,  beyond  which  were 
realities,  noumena,  "  things-in-themselves,M  neither 
temporal  nor  spatial  in  character.  This  introduced 
duality  into  his  world.  It  is  obvious  that  the  things 
beyond  experience  must  in  some  sense  be  experienced 
in  order  to  be  asserted.  Thus  all  reality  falls  within 
one  all-embracing  experience.  If  all  experience  is 
one,  and  time  characterizes  what  we  men  know  as  a 
part  of  this  experience,  it  also  in  some  sense  charac- 
terizes the  whole  of  experience.  This  need  not  mean 
that  the  whole  of  experience  is  in  time,  for,  as  Spinoza 
said,  God  may  be  infinite  in  an  infinite  number  of 
ways;  but  it  does  mean  that  time  is  in  the  whole  of 
experience,  that  time  consequently  is  one  of  the  real 
experiences  of  the  Absolute,  if  we  may  introduce  this 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making       167 

term  for  the  whole  of  reality,  and  that  consequently 
time  is  one  of  the  realities.  On  the  basis  of  the  unity 
of  all  experience,  the  Kantian  distinctions  of  kind 
between  " empirical"  and  " transcendental  "  merge 
into  distinctions  of  degree  between  less  and  more. 

With  the  reality  of  time  comes  also  the  reality  of  The  Reality 
progress.     We  may  be  deluded  as  to  the  amount  of  °£s^r°g" 
progress  that  has  taken  place,  but  the  fact  of  progress 
itself  is  not  illusory.     The  world  moves,  and  with  its 
movement,  marking  the  lapse  of  time  to  us,  human 
experience  is  becoming  richer. 

But  the  question  arises  again,  how  is  God  related  Does  God 
to  human  progress  ?  In  the  light  of  the  foregoing  Pr°gress? 
discussion  there  is  no  content  we  can  ascribe  to  the 
term  "  God  "  quite  so  worthy  as  the  whole  of  experi- 
ence, all  reality,  the  Absolute.  Time,  we  saw,  is  in 
God  rather  than  God  being  in  time.  So  progress  is 
in  the  content  of  the  stream  of  time  within  the  Abso- 
lute Life;  progress  is  in  God,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
say  God  progresses ;  as  a  flowing  river  may  gather 
alluvia  as  it  flows,  becoming  thereby  richer,  and  finally 
depositing  its  riches  at  the  delta,  without  the  fertility 
of  the  country  being  thereby  increased.  Yet  the  river 
gathers  from  the  land,  and  finally  gives  to  the  land. 
So  progress  is  possible  as  man  gathers  from  the  Di- 
vine Life  in  which  he  lives,  yet  God  as  all-containing 
may  suffer  neither  increase  nor  decrease.  Man's 
progress  is  his  increasing  participation  in  the  abun- 
dant life  of  God. 

These  deep  matters,  fascinating  as  they  are,  may 
yet  repel  us  by  their  difficulty.  But  we  live  in  the 
shallows  of  being  so  much  of  the  time,  it  is  well  for 


168  Idealism  in  Education 

us  occasionally  to  realize  there  are  great  depths,  even 
if  we  can  only  sink  in  their  mysteries.  And  these 
questions  about  progress  help  us  to  go  further  in  our 
philosophy  of  man-making. 

6.  The  Phi-         The  race  progresses,  we  saw,  and  may  progress 
5  more  rapidly,   by  means   of   heredity,  environment, 

;  Lrccs.  and  will.  What  is  to  be  our  philosophy  of  these 
processes  ?  These  are  evidently,  in  the  light  of  the 
foregoing  analysis,  the  divine  means  whereby  men 
and  women  are  made.  Creation  is  rather  the  making 
of  something  out  of  something  by  growth  than  the 
making  of  something  out  of  nothing  by  a  word. 
Procreation, — transmitting  heredity,  environment,— 
shedding  influence,  and  will, —  combining  the  two  ef- 
fectively, —  are  the  creative  forces,  are  the  means  God 
uses  to  come  into  the  life  of  man  increasingly,  are 
the  means  man  may  use  to  progress  in  God  toward 
his  ideal.  God  uses  men  to  fulfil  his  purposes  for 
man  ;  the  race  is  working  out  its  own  salvation,  1 
is  God  working  in  and  through  the  race. 

To  consider  the  creative  forces  in  succession. 
Heredity  means  the  unity,  the  continuity,  and  the 
evolution  of  the  living,  especially  human,  species. 
It  is  the  tie  that  binds  together  all  living  things. 
The  cell  is  the  unit  of  life;  it  has  no  known  o 
except  preceding  cells;  it  transmits  its  character 
to  all  the  cells  that  grow  from  it,  it  makes  all  living 
things  one,  all  plants,  all  animals,  and  all  men. 
Heredity  is  the  linkage  of  cells,  the  bond  of  connec- 
tion between  the  generations.  Heredity  passes  on 
but  not  back,  it  moves  only  in  the  forward  direction, 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making      169 

its  series  is  irreversible,  it  tells  the  story  of  man,  his 
origin,  his  nature,  his  goal.  The  stream  of  heredity 
running  through  all  living  and  unfolding  things 
realizes  by  slow  degrees  the  meaning  of  man.  In 
sum,  the  philosophical  meaning  of  heredity  is  the 
unity  of  all  mankind  with  itself  and  with  all  life. 

Environment  is  the  setting  of  the  story  of   man.  Meaning  of 
In  the  broadest  sense  of  the  term  it  includes  all  ex-  Envlron- 

ment. 

cept  the  cell-life.  One  group  of  cells  indeed  may  be 
environment  to  another,  as  the  human  body  is  a  part 
of  the  environment  of  the  germ  cells,  as  one  plant, 
animal,  or  person  is  part  of  the  environment  of 
another.  Thus  the  environment  itself  is  largely  liv- 
ing. Perhaps  if  we  knew  the  whole  truth  respecting 
the  so-called  inanimate  environment,  it  too  would  be 
throbbing  with  life  and  significant  with  meaning,  as 
Idealism  holds  with  the  poets.  This  environment  is 
the  condition  of  evolution,  permitting  nutrition,  growth, 
change,  development.  Between  heredity  and  environ- 
ment, action  and  reaction  take  place,  the  struggle 
which  is  the  condition  of  surviving.  In  sum,  the 
philosophical  meaning  of  environment  is,  existence 
includes  an  objective  changing  system  in  relation  to 
which  life  must  maintain  itself  by  adjustment. 

Will    is    the    response   of    the   individual    to    his  Meaning 
heredity  and  environment.    It  is  the  part  conscious-  of  WlU- 
ness  plays  in  evolution.     It  is  the  individual  organ- 
ism helping  to  make  itself,  man  taking  a  hand  in  his 
own   making,   piloting   his   own   vessel   of    heredity 
through  the  sea  of  environment.     And,  greatest  of 
all,  it  is  the  individual  organism  helping  to  make 
the  future  of  the  members  of  its  kind,  by  improving 


170  Idealism  in  Education 

their  physiological  heredity,  by  transmitting  the  hu- 
man social  heredity,  by  providing  a  better  environ- 
ment, by  fashioning  their  wills.  Will  means  that  at 
last  conscious  selection  aids  natural  selection,  that 
evolution  comes  to  consciousness  of  itself,  its  past, 
its  present,  its  possible  grand  goal.  Will  means  that 
God,  creating  by  means  of  evolution,  finally  fashions  \ 
an  incomplete  creature,  man,  capable  of  purpose- 
ful cooperation  in  his  own  completing.  The  me- 
chanical theories  of  evolution,  using  heredity  and 
environment  alone  as  the  explanatory  factors,  do 
scant  justice  to  the  creature's  struggle  for  survival, 
what  Schopenhauer  called  "the  will  to  live."  This 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  organism  to  survive,  whether 
in  the  case  of  the  least  amoeba  or  the  largest  whale, 
is  a  pre-condition  of  life.  The  creatures  that  do  not 
will  to  live  do  not  live.  Even  the  creatures  that  will 
to  live  end  by  dying,  but  they  triumph  over  death 
through  their  will  to  live  procreating  offspring.  Plato 
in  the  Symposium  showed  long  ago,  as  Schopenhauer 
later,  that  the  love  of  children  is  the  love  of  immor- 
tality. Without  the  will  to  live  no  heredity  could  be 
transmitted,  no  environment  sustain  life.  We  are 
using  will  here  to  cover  the  broad  sense  of  the  term, 
viz.,  consciousness  in  action,  and  not  simply  its  narrow 
sense  of  conscious  choice.  In  sum,  the  philosophical 
meaning  of  will  is  that  creatures  take  part  in  tlu-ir 
own  creating.  This  is  peculiarly  true  in  the  case  of 
the  highest  creature,  man. 

The  Groat-         If  we  put  these  three  elements  together  we  get  the 

Mmn*  idea  of  a  process,  occupying  time,  composed  of   ;m 

internal  factor,  —  heredity;  an  external  factor,  —  envi- 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making      171 

ronment;  and  a  directive  factor,  —  will,  whose  goal  — 
the  making  of  men  and  women  —  is  being  partially 
attained  constantly,  whose  final  goal — the  perfecting 
of  men  and  women  —  is  ever  more  closely  approached, 
but  never  reached.  Using  the  Aristotelian  distinctions 
among  causes,  we  may  say  that  the  material  cause  of 
the  process  is  environment,  the  efficient  cause  is 
heredity,  the  formal  cause  is  will,  and  the  final  cause 
is  man.  There  may  be  some  question  about  the 
exactness  of  these  identifications.  In  the  light  of 
this  temporal  process,  apparently  engrossing  the  in- 
terest of  the  evolving  earth  for  countless  past  ages,  we 
come  both  to  understand  and  appreciate  man.  Some 
ancient  words  say :  "  When  I  consider  thy  heavens, 
the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the  moon  and  the  stars, 
which  thou  hast  ordained ;  what  is  man  that  thou  art 
mindful  of  him  ?  And  the  son  of  man  that  thou 
visitest  him  ?  "  These  are  words  of  exaltation,  not  of 
abasement.  Likewise,  with  Hamlet,  those  who  know 
will  say:  "What  a  piece  of  work  is  man!  How 
noble  in  reason !  how  infinite  in  faculties !  in  form 
and  moving,  how  express  and  admirable !  in  action, 
how  like  an  angel !  in  apprehension,  how  like  a  god ! 
the  beauty  of  the  world  !  the  paragon  of  animals  !  " 
Few  of  us  will  care  to  add  with  feigning  Hamlet, 
unless  we  feign  as  he  :  "  And  yet,  to  me,  what  is  this 
quintessence  of  dust  ?  man  delights  not  me ;  no,  nor 
woman  neither." 

This  one-way,  irreversible,   unfolding,   time-filling  TheExpiana- 
process,  with  these  means  and  this  end,  what  shall  we 
say  in  explanation  of  it  ?     Is  chance  the  father  of  it  Process, 
all?   But  chance  is  a  name  for  human  ignorance ;  it  is 


172 


Idealism  in  Education 


Chance? 


Maeterlinck 
quoted. 


no  true  cause,  it  explains  nothing.  Is  blind  necessity, 
working  in  and  through  impersonal  and  mechanical 
laws,  the  lord  of  all  ?  But  "  necessity  "  is  itself  but  a 
concept  of  the  human  mind,  framed  to  aid  the  mind 
in  its  description  of  the  regularity  in  the  movements 
of  the  process ;  it  is  not  the  mind  itself ;  nor  could 
it,  being  blind,  produce  the  seeing  mind;  necessity  is 
the  product,  not  the  producer,  of  mind. 

Is  it  Conscious  Will?  Here  only  is  an  adequate 
explanation.  It  is  Conscious  Will  expressing  itself 
in  time  and  space,  bringing  forth  beings,  like  itself,  as 
like  as  finite  can  be  to  infinite,  to  share  its  abounding  I 
life.  It  is  Will,  for  in  the  process  there  is  motion, 
action,  conduct;  it  is  Conscious,  for  we,  its  lesser  prod- 
ucts, are  conscious,  and  no  light  springs  from  dark- 
ness ;  it  is  Conscious,  for,  as  Anaxagoras  said,  only 
Mind  can  explain  such  order  as  we  know  ;  it  is  Con- 
scious, for  only  so  could  we  be  so  surely  approaching 
our  receding  goal. 

In  a  notable  though  perhaps  unduly  agnostic  pas- 
sage in  a  remarkable  book  that  combines  science  and 
philosophy,  Maeterlinck  writes :  "  Whoever  brings 
careful  attention  to  bear  will  scarcely  deny,  even 
though  it  be  not  evident,  the  presence  in  nature  of  a 
will  that  tends  to  raise  a  portion  of  matter  to  a  subtler 
and  perhaps  better  condition,  and  to  penetrate  its 
substance  little  by  little  with  a  mystery-laden  fluid 
that  we  at  first  term  life,  then  instinct,  and  finally 
intelligence;  a  will  that,  for  an  end  we  know  not, 
organizes,  strengthens,  and  facilitates  the  existence 
of  all  that  is.  There  can  be  no  certainty,  and  yet 
many  instances  invite  us  to  believe  that,  were  an 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making      173 

actual  estimate  possible,  the  quantity  of  matter  that 
has  raised  itself  from  its  beginnings  would  be  found 
to  be  ever  increasing.  A  fragile  remark,  I  admit, 
but  the  only  one  we  can  make  on  the  hidden  force 
that  leads  us ;  and  it  stands  for  much  in  a  world  where 
confidence  in  life,  until  certitude  to  the  contrary  reach 
us,  must  remain  the  first  of  all  our  duties,  at  times 
even  when  life  itself  conveys  no  encouraging  clear- 
ness to  us."1 

The  universe  in  which  will  works  these  wonders  TmeCon- 
with  matter  is  no  vast  machine  grinding  out  little  and  jeptionofthe 

Universe. 

big  creatures,  as  even  Mark  Twain  2  appears,  beneath 
his  superficial  laughter,  really  to  have  regarded  it,  but 
a  Life,  a  purpose,  a  system  of  purposes  in  itself, 
expressing  itself  in  many  lesser  lives.  The  view  of 
the  universe  as  a  mechanism,  made  possible  to  modern 
minds  through  Newton's  law  of  universal  attraction, 
is  a  construction  of  man's  own  intelligence  to  satisfy 
his  own  purpose  in  understanding  the  universal 
motion.  Behind  man's  intellect,  formulating  mechan- 
ical conceptions  of  life  and  Nature,  is  man's  will  to 
know  and  his  feelings  of  appreciation.  So,  behind 
the  apparently  routine  world  that  mechanism  describes 
we  may  suppose  there  is  meaning,  life,  feeling,  and 
will,  akin  to  ourselves,  but  vaster.  All  variety  escapes 
our  mechanical  descriptions,  all  irregularity,  all  varia- 
tion, but  just  as  there  is  variety  —  evanescent  feelings, 
fleeting  ideas,  momentary  impulses,  halting  intentions 

1  Maeterlinck,  "The  Life  of  the  Bee"  (Tr.  Sutro),  N.  Y.,  1907.  pp. 

382-383- 

3Cf.    Current  Literature,  June,  1910,  "  Mark  Twain's  Pessimistic 
Philosophy." 


174  Idealism  in  Education 

—  that  escapes  our  mechanical  psychology,  so  there  is 
variety  in  Nature  that  escapes  our  mechanical  descrip- 
tions :  little  motions  of  the  air,  wavelets  of  the  sea, 
twinklings  of  the  stars,  songs  of  the  birds,  noddings 
of  flowers,  plays  of  animals,  laughter  of  children. 
All  is  instinct  with  a  common  life.  But  when  man 
can,  if  ever,  perfectly  describe  in  mechanical  terms  the 
life  of  Nature,  even  then  he  must  know  that  Nature 
may  be  uniform  because  the  will  of  God  is  consistently 
expressed  in  it  It  is  man's  scientific  duty  to  explain 
all  mechanically;  it  is  his  moral  duty  to  recognize 
personalities.  At  the  end  of  the  mechanical  chapter 
the  scientist  must  still » allow  that  his  love  for  his 
mother  is  really  a  relation  of  person  to  person  and  not 
of  dust  to  dust  "  Freedom  is  the  truth  of  necessity," 
says  Hegel.  So  mechanism  is  the  efficient  means 
used  by  intelligence  in  reaching  final  ends.  Mechan- 
ism describes  the  behavior  of  Nature,  teleology  ex- 
plains mechanism,  man  with  intellect  and  will  explains 
both  mechanism  and  teleology,  the  Conscious  Will  of 
the  world  explains  man  and  all. 

The  Conccp.  This  Conscious  Will  is  our  God,  the  true  Father  of 
too  of  God.  Qur  being.  Our  heredity  is  originally  from  Him,  and 
represents  His  continuing  process  of  creation  by  pro- 
creation. Our  environment  is  He  Himself  expressed 
in  Nature.  Our  will  is,  when  right,  His  own  will  in 
us  lifting  us  toward  Himself,  that  we  may  be,  that  we 
may  be  ourselves,  that  we  may  be  His,  that  human  and 
divine  comradeship  and  collaboration  may  exist  upon 
the  earth.  Man's  greatest  intellectual  mistake  has 
been  in  separating  between  himself  in  his  best  mo- 
ments and  God ;  man's  greatest  need  is  to  find  the 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making      175 

unity  between  his  being  and  God.  To  be  in  harmony 
with  external  and  internal  nature  is  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  immanent  God.  If  these  things  be  true,  we 
may  anticipate  that  one  of  the  fruits,  perhaps  the 
finest,  of  the  new  education  of  the  better  race  to 
come  will  be  the  cultivation  of  the  spiritual  sense, 
the  sense  of  the  divine  meanings  in  the  daily  happen- 
ings, the  vision  of  all  things  in  God,  the  awareness 
that  man's  life  is  lived  as  a  part  of  the  permeating 
Universal  Life.  This  is  not  impersonal  pantheism, 
nor  artificial  dualism,  nor  degrading  materialism,  nor 
impotent  parallelism,  nor  hesitant  agnosticism,  nor 
anthropomorphic  theism,  but  real  monotheism.  It  is 
the  larger  faith  of  our  modern  world  with  its  new 
knowledge,  that  unabashed  but  reverently  looks  into 
the  processes  of  Nature  as  they  have  been  making 
life  for  ages  past,  as  being  really  only  the  methods  of 
the  divine  working  hitherto,  the  faith  that  calls  man  to 
work,  to  work  with  the  things  of  earth  not  as  earthly 
but  as  heavenly,  that  the  joint  creation  of  God  and 
man  may  be  worthy  to  endure. 

"  I  read,  on  the  porch  of  a  palace  bold, 
In  a  purple  tablet  letters  cast : 
*  A  house,  though  a  million  winters  old, 
A  house  of  earth  comes  down  at  last : 
Then  quarry  thy  stones  from  the  crystal  All, 
And  build  the  dome  that  shall  not  fall.' " 

But   what   have  these   views   as   to   the   ultimate  Tucker 
things  to  do  with  education  ?     They  may  become  the  Sd°caf  nal 
light  of  all  our  educational  seeing.     Many  watchmen  Need, 
agree  that  society  is  ready  for  a  new  ethical  and  re- 
ligious awakening.      Dr.  W.  J.    Tucker   finds    "the 


176  Idealism  in  Education 

greatest  present  need  in  the  educational  world"  to  be 
"  that  of  an  ethical  revival  at  the  heart  of  education." 
What  he  means  by  this  will  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing quotation : 

"  Where  then  shall  we  look  for  the  recovery  and 
advancement  of  education  to  its  highest  ethical  power? 
Chiefly,  I  believe,  to  our  capacity  for  carrying  on  the 
idealizing  process  through  which  we  accustom  our- 
selves to  think  reverently  of  all  knowledge,  to  insist 
upon  all  intellectual  work  as  a  moral  discipline,  and 
to  hold  all  intellectual  attainments  and  achievements 
as  tributary  to  the  social  good."  * 

Not  every  man,  not  every  teacher,  can  idealize  his 
work  ethically,  or  at  all.  It  is  our  great  desideratum. 
It  is  by  the  use  of  idealism  we  are  to  make  men  and 
women  who  can  idealize.  With  the  perfecting  of  the 
spiritual  sense  along  with  the  other  noble  phys 
intellectual,  emotional,  moral,  and  social  capac 
of  man,  we  may  anticipate  the  day  when  the  measure 
of  a  man  will  include  the  physique  of  the  athlete, 
the  reason  of  the  scientist  and  philosopher,  the  feel- 
ing of  the  poet,  the  imagination  of  the  prophet  and 
inventor,  and  the  will  of  the  reformer.  Such  men 
will  be  practical  idealists,  with  vision  to  see  and  with 
energy  to  execute.  Some  such  fruition  as  this  has 
already  been  glimpsed  in  the  greatest  characters  of 
human  history ;  those  great  ones  are  the  earnest  of 
the  coming  men  and  women  God  is  making  through 
present  men  and  women.  To  aid  in  this  work  is  the 
true  calling  of  all  noble  souls.  And  to  aim  at  this 

1  W.  J.  Tucker,  "  Modern  Education  Capable  of  Idealism,"  in 
Public- Mindtdntu,  Concord,  N.  H.,  1910. 


The  Philosophy  of  Man-making      177 

fruition,  the  perfecting  of  humanity  in  the  image  of 
divinity,  is  idealism  in  educating. 

These  words  contemplate  particularly  our  teachers. 
Theirs  to  inform  young  people  aright  as  to  bettering 
the  race  by  selected  heredity,  by  improved  environ- 
ments, and  by  good  wills;  theirs  to  provide  the  right 
environment  in  the  schools ;  theirs  to  cultivate  their 
own  souls  as  the  most  important  influence  upon  their 
pupils;  theirs  to  aid  in  building  moral  character; 
theirs  to  receive  the  wages  of  going  on ;  theirs  to 
recognize,  appreciate,  and  apply,  with  all  parents  and  The  Last 
citizens,  the  last  of  the  first  principles  in  the  making 
of  men  and  women,  viz.,  eugenics,  eutopias,  and  ing. 
eunoias  are  the  chosen  means  of  the  Divine  Purpose  in 
perfecting  mankind. 

Idealism  as  a  practical  philosophy  of  living,  as  well 
as  educating,  is  expressed  for  us  in  Tennyson's 
"  Higher  Pantheism,"  a  poem  now  fortunately  too 
familiar  to  require  quotation.  But,  as  setting  the 
philosophy  of  this  book  to  song,  I  will  append  from 
the  same  poet : 

THE   HUMAN  CRY 
I 

Hallowed  be  Thy  name — Halleluiah!  — 
Infinite  Ideality! 
Immeasurable  Reality! 
Infinite  Personality ! 
Hallowed  be  Thy  name  —  Halleluiah ! 

II 

We  feel  we  are  nothing —  for  all  is  Thou  and  in  Thee ; 
We  feel  we  are  something  —  that  also  has  come  from  Thee; 
We  know  we  are  nothing  —  but  Thou  wilt  help  us  to  be. 
Hallowed  be  Thy  name,  Halleluiah. 


INDEX 


Addams,  Jane,  88. 

^Eschylus,  101. 

Agnosticism,  147. 

Alexander  the  Great,  101. 

Allen,  W.  H.,  58. 

Allin,  A.,  58. 

Alps,  the,  104. 

American  society,  menaces  to,  83. 

Anarchism  vs.  socialism,   no. 

Anaxagoras,  172. 

Angelo,  Michel,  152. 

Aristophanes,  102. 

Aristotle,  101,  127,  128. 

Arminianism,  108. 

Arnold,  F.,  143. 

Arnold,  M.,  99. 

Associates,  personal,  86. 

Attention,  124. 

Atrophy,  through  disuse,  69. 

Augustine,  St.,  33,  107. 

Average,  the,  80. 

Bacon.  F.,  152. 

Bagley,  W.  C.,  143. 

Bain,  A.,  143. 

Baldwin,  J.  M.,  58,  62. 

Ball,  W.  P.,  58. 

Bancroft,  G.,  98. 

Barnett,  P.  A.,  143. 

Bateson,  W.,  58. 

Beethoven,  L.,  152. 

Biology,  its  emphasis  on  heredity,  10 ; 

and  will,  112. 
Bjorkman,  58. 
Bourne,  H.  E.,  134. 
Bradford,  A.  H.,  94. 
Brewster,  58. 
Brinton,  D.  G.,  94. 
Broca,  13. 
Brooks,  W.  K.,  580 
Bruno,  G.,  82. 
Bryant,  H.  C.,  85. 


Bryce,  J.,  151. 
Bryn  Mawr,  49. 
Buddha,  88. 
Burbank,  L.,  4,  36. 
Burnett,  J.,  128,  129. 
Byron,  May,  14. 

Calderwood,  H.,  8,  94,  143. 

Calvin,  J.,  33,  105,  108. 

Capacity,  30,  31,  120. 

Catiline,  103. 

Cato,  103. 

Carlyle,  n. 

Carver,  T.  M.,  59. 

Chamberlain,  A.  H.,  143. 

Chamberlain,  T.  C.,  i. 

Character,  not  inherited,  32. 

Characters,  acquired,  the  inheritance 

of,  24. 

Child,  study  of  the  individual,  45. 
Choices,  to  be  allowed,  138. 
Christianity,  individuality  in,   105. 
Church,  its  present  problem,  159. 
Cicero,  103. 
Clough,  A.  H.,  138. 
Coe,  G.  A.,  143. 
Community,  social  environment  in, 

78. 

Compayr6,  G.,  143. 
Competition,  74. 
Confucius,  88. 

Conn,  H.  W.,  26,  27,  62,  94. 
Conover,  J.  P.,  143. 
Conservation,  need  of  vital,   161. 
Cooperation,  vs.  competition,   87. 
Cope,  E.  D.,  25,  59,  143. 
Crawley,  94. 

Criminality,    inheritance   of,    13. 
Curriculum,  moral  use  of,  133. 


D'Alembert,  13. 

Darwin,  C.,  8,  13,  22,  59,  71,    117. 


179 


i8o 


Index 


Davenport,  C.  B.,  38,  59. 

Da  Vinci,  L.,  152. 

Degeneration,  no  racial,  in  America, 

160. 

Destiny,  dependent  on  thought,  123. 
De  Vries,  H.,  4,  60,  69,  119. 
Dewey,  J.,  143,  155. 
Dexter  and  Gaiiick,  143. 
Dickinson,  G.  L.,  79. 
Discipline,  132. 
Dock,  L.  L.,  59. 

Drawing,  ethical  value  of,  135. 
Drummond,  H.,  8. 
Dualism,  147. 
Dudley  and  Kellor,  04. 
Dugdalc,  R.  L.,  59. 
Dutton,  S.  T.  143. 


the  problem  of,  in  man- 
making,  Chap.  I;  and  Heredity, 
Chap.  II;  the  practical  bearings 
of  heredity  on,  35;  and  Environ- 
ment, Chap.  Ill;  and  Will,  Chap. 
IV;  moral,  127-140. 

Edwards,  J.,  33. 

Efficiency,  human,  multiplication  of, 
4- 

Effort,  131;  and  pleasure,  132. 

Eigenmann,  C.  H.,  so- 

Eimer,  G.  H.  T.,  25,  SO- 

Eliot,  C.  W.,  31,  32,  39. 

BBS,  H,  13. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  85,  in. 

Environment,  and  Education,  Chap. 
Ill,  nature  of,  61  ;  kinds  of,  62; 
general  mitacmce  of,  64;  law  of, 
64;  modifies  the  organism,  64; 
b  modified  by  the  organism,  65; 
of  the  law  of,  67; 
opportunity,  67  ;  in- 
flucnce  of  the  physical,  68;  influ- 
ence of  the  social,  73;  practical 
bearings  of,  on  education,  80;  our 
duty  to,  81  ;  problem  of  handling, 
82;  how  to  control,  84 
school,  89;  abuse  of  the  law  of, 
92;  and  will.  118. 

Ethics,  the  teaching  of,  136,  137 

Eugenics,  55. 

Eunoias,  140. 


Euripides,  101. 
Eutopias,  92. 

Evolution,  from  unconscious  to  con- 
scious, 3;    social,  its  goal,   116. 
Ewart,  J.  C.,  sp. 
Experience,  unity  of,  166. 
Esekiel,  57,  106. 

Fechner,  G.,  2. 
Fiske,  J,  2,  8. 
Fitch,  J.,  143. 
Fletcher,  H.  71. 
Forces,  life,  5. 
Forel,  A.,  59. 
Franklin,  B.,  55. 
Frederick  the  Great,  52- 
Fynn,  A.  Jn  94- 

Galton.  Sir  F.,  4,  18,  «S,  39,  54,  59- 

Geddes  and  Thomson,  59. 

Geneva,  108. 

Genius,  79. 

Geography,  and  man,  71. 

George  III,  116. 

God,  and  human  progress,  167. 

God,  conception  of,  174. 

Greece,   individuality   in,    101. 

Guyau,  M.  J.,  15,  59- 

Habit,  129. 

Haeckcl,  E,  8,  25,  46,  94- 

Hay  ward,  F.  H.,  59. 

Hegel  G.  W.  F.,  98,  117,  i?4- 

Herbart,  J.  F.,  131,  135. 

v,  and  Education,  Chap.  II; 
its  fundamental  place,  10 ;  illustra- 
tions  of,  ii ;   and  crime,   t 
literature,  14;   its  nature,  i 
law,   16;    its  law  applied  to  the 
physique,   16;    its  law  appi 
the  mind,  19;  its  law  applied  to  the 
moral  traits,  20;   reversion  to  tin- 
normal,   22;    its  gradual  appear- 
ance, 23 ;  the  inheritance  of  a< 
characters,  24;  the  inheritance  of 
capacity,  30;    use  of,   in  making 
progress,  32;    and  predestination, 
33;     practical    bearings    <>: 
education,  35 ;  develop  the  strong 
points  of,  43 ;  arouse  dormant,  44 ; 


Index 


181 


abuse  of  the  law  of,  55;    latent, 

called   out   by   environment,    68; 

and  will,  118. 
Hibben,  J.  G.,  9- 
History,  its  philosophy,  98;  ethical 

value  of,  134. 
Holmes,  0.  W.,  57- 
Home,  social  environment  in,  77. 
Rowland,  G.,  143. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  9. 

Idealism,  149;   in  education,  176. 

Imitation,  74. 

Immigration,  47. 

Inbreeding,  22. 

Individual,  study  of  the,  45 ;  histori- 
cal survey  of  the  recognition  of  the, 
97,  117;  socializing  the,  126. 

Individualism,    its   future,    115. 

Individuality,   and  personality,   97. 

Inquisition,  the,   104. 

Instruction,  77 ;   direct  ethical,  136. 

Isaiah,  106. 

James,  W.,  94,  131*  143- 

Jenks,  J.  W.,  143- 

Jeremiah,  106. 

Jesuits,  81,  104. 

Jesus,  79,  88,  93,  107,  109,  127. 

Job,  92. 

Johonnot,  J.,  143. 

Jordan,  D.  S.,  59. 

Jordan  and  Kellogg,  9,  59. 

Jowett,  B.,  93. 

Judaism,  and  Christianity,  106. 

Judas,  93. 

Jukes,  the,  14,  59,  76. 

Kant,  I.,  in;    on  time,  164. 

Keatinge,  M.  W.,  129,  134. 

Kent,  C.  F,  72. 

Key,  131. 

King,  H.  C.,  82. 

Kirkpatrick,  E.  A.,  65,  76,  144. 

Knox,  J.,  105. 

Lamarck,  25,  26,  69. 
Lamprecht,  K.,  134. 
La  Place,  i. 
Laurie,  S.  S.,  144. 


Leibnitz,  2,  in. 
Lincoln,  A.,  22,  112. 
Literature,   use  of   the  doctrine  of 
heredity  in,  14;    ethical  value  of, 

134- 

Lock,  R.  H.  94. 
Lombroso,  13. 
Lowell,  P.,  i,  72. 
Lowell,  A.  L.,  122. 
Luther,  M.,  81,  105,  127. 

MacCunn,  J.,  144. 

MacDonald,  G.,  56. 

MacDougall,  D.  T.,  94. 

Machinery,  and  will,  113. 

Maeterlinck,  172,  173. 

M'Kim,  W.  D.,  59- 

Man,  his  greatness  and  littleness,  2, 
170;  self -improvement  of,  3,  4. 

Man-making,  the  occupation  of  the 
ages,  i ;  the  forces  of,  5 ;  the  prob- 
lem of,  6,  8 ;  the  first  principle  of, 
55;  the  second  principle  of,  92; 
the  third  principle  of,  140;  sum- 
mary of,  140;  problems  connected 
with  the  elements  of,  141 ;  the  last 
principle  of,  177. 

Manu,  100. 

Manual  training,  ethical  value  of, 
135. 

Marriage  tests,  48. 

Mason,  O.  T.,  99. 

Materialism,  147. 

Meme,  n. 

Mendel,  G.,  17. 

Mendelism,  56,  58. 

Met  calf,  73,  95. 

Middle  Ages,  Individualism  in, 
107. 

Mill,  J.  S.,  63,  148. 

Mind,  in  our  universe,  2. 

Missions,  157. 

Models,  129. 

Mohammed,  88. 

Monotheism,  156. 

Morality,  and  Deity,  156. 

Morgan,  C.  L.,  59. 

Morgan,  T.  H.,  95. 

Munro,  M.  F.,  59. 

Myron,  152. 


182 


Index 


Nag«li,  68. 
Napoleon,  52. 

Nature,  associations  with,  85. 
Newton,  173. 
Nietache,  F.,  4,  S3- 
Nisbet,  J.  F.,  60. 
Northwestern  University,  144. 
Nutrition,  effects  of,  70. 

Object  lessons,  in  moral  education, 

130. 

Oppenheim.  N.,  60. 
Opportunity,  use  of,  by  will,  120. 

/  v  ;  ***f*Altim*4     K»»     Aniriw\nn«4»nt 

urganism,  rnoninea  oy  environment, 
64;  modifies  environment,  65; 
become*  like  environment,  65. 

Orient,  recognition  of  individuality 
in.  100. 

Orr.  H.  B.,  95. 

Outcast,  the,  80. 

Palmer,  G.  H.,  137,  144. 

Parallelism,  148. 

Parents,  a  duty  of,  36;  the  study  of, 
by  teachers,  45- 

Parker,  F.  W.,  144. 

Paul,  St.,  33,  107,  n? 

Payot,  J.,  144- 

Peace,  universal.  52. 

Pearl.  R.,  60. 

Pearson,  K.,  4.  *>,  25,  3°»  4L  60. 

Pedrtto.ii. 

Perides,  101,  102. 

Philanthropy,  is  it  misguided?  53. 

Philosophies,  typical,  146. 

Philosophy,  of  history,  08. 

Philosophy,  a  mechanical,  and  will, 
the,  of  man-making,  Chap. 
IV;  its  nature,  145;  its  method, 
145;  of  heredity,  168;  of  environ- 
ment, 169;  of  will,  169;  of  the 
unity  of  these  three,  171. 

FUtO,  4^*4.  36,  3*.  93,  ioi. 

Pleasure,  and  effort,  132. 

Pluralism,  148. 

Plutarch,  75. 

Poulton,  E.  B.,  95. 

Predestination,  and  heredity,  33- 

Prejudice,  race,  155. 

Prenatal  influence,  51. 


Presbyterians,  108. 

Primitive  peoples,  recognition  of  in- 
dividuality among,  99. 

Progress,  use  of  heredity  in  making, 
32 ;  the  possibility  of,  32 ;  human, 
149;  in  capacity,  in  contrast  with 
acquisition,  150;  material,  151; 
intellectual,  151;  esthetic,  152; 
moral,  153 ;  religious,  155 ;  possible, 
162;  its  nature,  164;  its  reality, 
167. 

Protestantism,  individuality  in,  108; 
its  paradox,  108. 

Punnett,  R.  C,  SS,  56,  60. 

Race,  improvement  of,  35,  60;  study 

of.  by  teachers,  46;  "  suidde,"  39. 

Rauschenbusch,  W.,  160. 

Recapitulation,  theory  of,  46. 


Reformation,  individuality  in  the,  109. 

Reformers,  social.  88. 

Religion,  decline  in  the  social  in- 
fluence of,  158. 

Renaissance,  individuality  in  the,  109. 

Reversion,  to  the  normal  in  heredity, 
22. 

Revolution,  the  French,  individualism 
in,  no. 

Ribot,  T.  H.,  29,  60. 

Rights,  of  woman,  48. 

Riis,  J.,  82,  88. 

Romanes,  G.  J.,  60,  95. 

Rome,  individuality  in,  102. 

Roosevelt,  T.,  39,  88,  153. 

Rousseau,  no. 

Rugh,  C.  E.,  144- 

Ruskin,  J.,  35,  "6. 

Sadler,  M.  E.,  144. 

Saleeby,  C.  W.,  7,  9,  40,  60. 

Savonarola,  127. 

School,  the  social  environment  of  the, 
78,  89;  and  tuberculosis,  91 ;  r61e 
of  the,  in  frntn-FtiflV*ngj  142. 

Scott,  C.  A.,  88,  144. 

Sedgwick  and  Wilson,  95. 

Sedey,  L.,  144. 

Segregation,  of  the  unfit 

Selection,  sexual,  38 ;  environmental, 
69- 


Index 


183 


Self,  improvement  of,  by  man,  3. 

Servetus,  82. 

Shakespeare,  5. 

Shaler,  N.  S.,  20. 

Shaw,  G.  B.,  4,  53. 

Snedden,  D.,  143. 

Socialism  vs.  anarchism,  no. 

Society  vs.  the  individual,  97;  in- 
dividualizing, 126. 

Sociology,  and  will,  112. 

Socrates,  79,  88,  101,  127. 

Sophists,  101. 

Sophocles,  101. 

Spencer,  H.,  25,  53,  60,  64,  87,  95, 
117,  144- 

Spinoza,  166. 

Suggestion,  75,  129,  131. 

Sully,  J.,  144. 

Sutton,  95. 

Swift,  E.  J.,  144. 

Tacitus,  104,  105. 

Teachers,  a  duty  of,  36. 

Tennyson,  22, 177. 

Teutons,  individuality  among  the,  103. 

Thomson,  J.  A.,  6,  7,  60,  76,  82,  95. 

Thoreau,  53,  85. 

Thorndike,  E.  L.,  14,  21,  60. 

Time,  nature  of,  164. 

Titchener,  on  attention,  124,  125. 

Tuberculosis,  and  school,  91. 

Tucker,  W.  J.,  153,  175,  176. 

Tufts,  J.  H.,  143,  iSS. 

Tyler,  J.  M.,  9,  95- 

Twain,  Mark,  173. 


Unfit,  segregation  of  the,  41. 
Universe,  true  conception  of,  173. 

Variation,  explanation  of,  71. 
Vernon,  H.  M.,  95. 
Virgil,  152. 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  60. 

Ward,  L.  F.,  95. 

Weismann,  A.,  25,  26,  60,  95. 

Wells,  H.  G.,  9. 

Wharton,  Edith,  14. 

White,  J.  T.,  130. 

Will,  and  Education,  Chap.  IV; 
meaning  of,  96,  123;  exaggerations 
of  its  influence,  1 1 1 ;  minimizing 
its  influence,  112 ;  in  discussions  of 
heredity  and  environment,  118; 
its  contribution  to  man-making, 
119,  122;  its  lower  stages,  124; 
practical  bearings  of  discussion  of, 
125;  aim  in  educating  the,  126; 
principles  in  educating  the,  127; 
its  indirect  education,  127;  never 
break  a  child's,  139;  conscious, 
the  explanation  of  creation,  172. 

Wilson,  E.  B.,  60. 

Woman,  her  rights,  48;  outdoor  life 
for,  50. 

Woods,  F.  A.,  23. 

Wordsworth,  W.,  85. 

Zeus,  101. 
Zola,  14. 
Zwingli,  105. 


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